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title: "Complete Book 0"
book: "MPUB 302 State and Local Governance"
category: "General"
publisher: "Ratan Prakashan Mandir Pvt. Ltd."
type: "Educational Material"
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According to Latest Syllabus
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RATAN
TEXT BOOK
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE
M.A.Pub.Ad.(Sem-III)
Dr. Moti Lal
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Chapter-1
State Administration
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Restructuring State Governments
Features of state administration
Bodies of public administration in state
State administration
Advantages of State administration
Limitations of State administration
Other approaches related to State administration
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Learning Objectives

• To know about State Administration
Introduction
Constitutional guarantees and provisions, Union and State laws as well as policies and programmes for economic and social development are relevant to the daily lives of the people only to the extent they are implemented honestly and efficiently. The Constitution of India gives a special role and responsibility to the State Governments for preserving public order and ensuring the welfare of citizens. The Seventh Schedule which clearly demarcates the legislative and functional domain of the Union and the States, highlights the critical role envisaged for State Governments in fulfilling the aspirations set out in the Directive Principles of State Policy.
Restructuring State Governments
In addition to the issues on which the Commission has already made recommendations earlier, the Commission has analysed the following major aspects of State Administration in this Report:

(i)     Size of the Council of Ministers

(ii)    Rationalizing the number of Secretariat Departments

(iii)   Executive Agencies

(iv)   Internal restructuring of the State Government Departments.

(v)    State Civil Services Law

(vi)    Appointment and security of tenure at senior levels in the State Government

(vii)   State Public Service Commission
Size of the Council of Ministers
The State executive consists of the Governor, who is the Constitutional head of the State, and the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as the head. Each Minister of the Council of Ministers is in charge of one or more departments and the business of the Government is carried out through Secretaries functioning at the State level.
Over a period of time, partly due to administrative needs and partly due to compulsions of coalition politics, there has been a significant proliferation of Ministers and Departments in almost all the States. This proliferation has led to administrative fragmentation. The present size of the Council of Ministers in the States, more so in the larger ones, appears to be disproportionate, particularly in view of the establishment of the third tier of Government, to
whom substantive powers and functions have to be devolved as mandated by the Constitutional 73rd and 74th Amendments. An attempt was made to address this issue by way of the 91st Constitutional amendment introduced with effect from 01.01.2004 by restricting the size of the Council of Ministers to a maximum of 15% of the strength of the respective State Legislative Assembly but the problem still persists. In bigger States (like U.P. where the Assembly has a strength of 404 legislators), even this restriction has not prevented formation of jumbo sized Ministries.
Article 164 of the Constitution deals with the appointment of the Chief Minister and the other Ministers. As per Article 164(1A), the total number of Ministers including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly of that State provided that the number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister in a State shall not be less than twelve. In case of smaller States like Sikkim, Mizoram and Goa where the strength of the Assembly is 32, 40 and 40 respectively, a minimum strength of 7 for the Council of Ministers has been provided.
Before the 91st Constitutional amendment, there was no limit on the size of the Council of Ministers in a State. At one point, there were 76 Ministers in the Bihar Government, 69 in Maharashtra and 93 in Uttar Pradesh. The size and composition of the Council of Ministers is of basic importance to effective public administration. The Ministry and the Cabinet come into existence for the specific purpose of running the administration efficiently and impartially and not for operating a spoils system. Hence, it needs to be compact and homogenous, its size being determined by administrative needs. It would depend on factors such as the area of the State, its population, the stage of economic development and its peculiar problems.
It may be pertinent to recall that the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution had suggested that the size of the Council of Ministers should not be more than 10 per cent of the total strength of the lower House, the Lok Sabha at the Centre and the Legislative Assembly in the States. This recommendation was in line with the views of the First Administrative Reforms Commission which had suggested that the size of the Council be limited to 10 per cent of the strength of the Assembly in a unicameral State and 11 percent in a bicameral State.
There is a growing realisation that there is need to further reduce the size of the Council of Ministers in the States. The number of Ministers (of all ranks taken together) should be in direct proportion to the needs of an efficient government. There should be a correlation
between the number of Ministers and that of the Departments existing in the government. However, different yardsticks would be needed for different States and a distinction will have to be made on the basis of population, strength of the Assembly and specific functional needs of individual States.
Features of state administration

•    administration is working on behalf and in name of the State,

•    administration is always political,

•    administration is working under the law and within the limits set by it,

•    administration must act in the collective interest,

•    administration is working under the competence granted by law,

•  administration is impersonal,

•  administration is imperious,

•    administration operates on the principle of leadership and subordination,

•    administration is a team of people, who are professional staff,

•    administration must operate in a continuous and stable way.
Bodies of public administration in state
State administration bodies due to the territorial scope of the actions can be divided into:

•    supreme authorities,

•    central authorities,

•    local authorities.
Supreme authorities of the public administration
They have the following characteristics:

•    are appointed by the President (either directly or after the election by the Parliament),

•    issue commands to other bodies,

•    have the constitutional and political responsibility.
Central authorities of public administration
The central authorities of the administration operate on the basis of the relevant laws and statutes of the Council of Ministers by.
Local public administration authorities
Local public administration in the province are:

•    governor, voivode, complex steering departments, inspection and guard offices,

•    regional and local authorities.
State administration

•    Local Government: Local government is a type of public administration that operates at the level of a city, county, or state. It is responsible for providing services to the local population, such as public safety, health care, and infrastructure
maintenance. Local governments are typically composed of elected officials and staff members who are responsible for carrying out the day-to-day operations.

•    Federal Government: The federal government is the national government of the United States, responsible for the country's governance, executive branch, and legislative branch. It is composed of three branches: the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The Executive Branch is responsible for executing the laws passed by Congress, while the Legislative Branch is responsible for writing and passing laws. The Judicial Branch is responsible for interpreting and enforcing those laws.

•    State Government: State governments are responsible for the governance of the individual states and territories within the United States. Each state is governed by its own constitution, laws, and regulations. State governments are responsible for providing services such as public safety, health care, infrastructure maintenance, education, and welfare. State governments are typically composed of elected officials and staff members who are responsible for carrying out the day-today operations.

•    Regulatory Agencies: Regulatory agencies are government entities that are responsible for enforcing laws and regulations. These agencies are responsible for ensuring that businesses, organizations, and individuals comply with the laws and regulations set forth by the government. Examples of regulatory agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

•    Administrative Courts: Administrative courts are specialized courts that handle cases involving the state’s administrative agencies and departments. These courts are responsible for adjudicating disputes between the state and its citizens, and between state agencies. Administrative courts have exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving the state’s regulatory agencies and departments. Examples of administrative courts include the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the UK, the Social Security Appeals Tribunal in Australia, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Canada.
Advantages of State administration
State administration provides an array of advantages, including:

•    Improved efficiency - State administration allows state governments to streamline their internal processes and create efficient systems for carrying out their duties. This enables governments to be more productive and effective.

•    Regulatory consistency - State administration helps ensure that states are able to enforce consistent regulations and policies across all departments. This helps to ensure that citizens receive fair and equal treatment from the government.

•    Enhanced public services - State administration makes it easier for state governments to provide high-quality public services to citizens. This includes providing access to healthcare, education, transportation, and other essential services.

•    Improved accountability - State administration makes it easier for state governments to hold themselves accountable to their citizens. This allows citizens to have a better understanding of how their government is spending their tax dollars and ensures that state governments are being responsible with their resources.
Limitations of State administration
State administration is a system of entities created by statute and in the competence to carry out internal and external management and executive activities with responsibility assigned to state. Despite its efficiency in managing state affairs, state administration is subject to several limitations:

•    Lack of resources: State administration is often underfunded and thus has limited resources to carry out their functions. This limits their capacity to provide timely and effective services.

•  Bureaucracy: State administration is subject to bureaucracy, which means that
processes may be tedious and slow. This can cause inefficiencies in government operations.

•    Corrupt practices: State administration can be prone to corrupt practices due to the lack of transparency and accountability of its decision-making processes. This can lead to mismanagement and misuse of resources.

•    Political interference:  State administration is often subject to political
interference, which can lead to decisions being made based on political gain rather than the public interest.

•    Inability to keep up with change: State administration can be slow to react to changes in the environment, and may struggle to keep up with rapid technological and social changes.
Other approaches related to State administration
State administration is a system of entities created by statute with the competence to manage and execute internal and external activities with responsibility assigned to the state. Other approaches to State administration include:

•    Intergovernmental Relations: This approach focuses on the relationship between different levels of government and their respective responsibilities. It examines how different levels of government interact and manage their common interests.

•    Public Policy: This approach focuses on how governments make decisions and implement policies that affect the public. It looks at the policy-making process, the role of the public in decision-making, and the impact of policies on different groups of people.

•    Public Administration: This approach examines how governments organize and manage their activities. It looks at the structure and functions of government organizations, the roles of officials and bureaucrats, and the processes used to implement decisions.

•    Administrative Law: This approach focuses on the legal framework that governments use to govern their activities. It examines the laws and regulations that guide government decision-making, the responsibilities of government officials, and the legal remedies available for disputes.
Summary
State administration is defined as a system of entities created by statute and in the competence to carry out internal and external management and executive activities with responsibility assigned to state. In summary, State administration is a complex system of entities, with different approaches used to examine how governments make decisions, manage their activities, and interact with other levels of government.
Self-Check Exercise

•    Restructuring State Governments

•    Features of State administration

•    State administration
Glossary
State Government: State governments are responsible for the governance of the individual states and territories within the United States.
Article 164- Constitution deals with the appointment of the Chief Minister and the other Ministers.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise

a)    1.2

b)    1.3,1.5
Suggested Reading

• Gray, A., & Jenkins, B. (1995). From public administration to public management: reassessing a revolution?. Public administration, 73(1), 75.
Terminal Questions

•    What do you understand by state administration? Define limitation of state administration
Chapter-2 State legislature
Structure
Learning Objectives
Organization of State Legislature
Duration of Two Houses
Presiding Officers of State Legislature
Sessions of State Legislature
Legislative Procedure In State Legislative
Position of Legislative Council
Privileges of State Legislative
Summary
Self Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self - Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Learning Objectives:
After going through this lesson, the students will be able to know

•    Organisation of state legislature

•    Depth information about state legislature
Organization of State Legislature
There is no uniformity in the organisation of state legislatures. Most of the states have an unicameral system, while others have a bicameral system. At present (2019), only six states have two Houses (bicameral). These are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Jammu and
Kashmir Legislative Council was abolishes by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, 2010 has not come into force. The Legislative Council in Andhra Pradesh was revived by the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Act, 2005. The 7 th Amendment Act of 1956 provided for a Legislative Council in Madhya Pradesh. However, a notification to this effect has to be made by the President. So far, no such notification has been made. Hence, Madhya Pradesh continues to have one House only.
The twenty-two states have unicameral system. Here, the state legislature consists of the governor and the legislative assembly. In the states having bicameral system, the state legislature consists of the governor, the legislative council and the legislative assembly. The legislative council (Vidhan Parishad) is the upper house (second chamber or house of elders), while the legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is the lower house (first chamber or popular house).
The Constitution provides for the abolition or creation of legislative councils in states. Accordingly, the Parliament can abolish a legislative council (where it already exists) or create it (where it does not exist), if the legislative assembly of the concerned state passes a resolution to that effect. Such a specific resolution must be passed by the state assembly by a special majority, that is, a majority of the total membership of the assembly and a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the assembly present and voting. This Act of Parliament is not to be deemed as an amendment of the Constitution for the purposes of Article 368 and is passed like an ordinary piece of legislation (ie, by simple majority).
“The idea of having a second chamber in the states was criticised in the Constituent Assembly on the ground that it was not representative of the people, that it delayed legislative process and that it was an expensive institution2 .” Consequently the provision was made for the abolition or creation of a legislative council to enable a state to have a second chamber or not according to its own willingness and financial strength. For example, Andhra Pradesh got the
legislative council created in 1957 and got the same abolished in 1985. The Legislative Council in Andhra Pradesh was again revived in 2007, after the enactment of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Act, 2005. The legislative council of Tamil Nadu had been abolished in 1986 and that of Punjab and West Bengal in 1969.
In 2010, the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu passed a resolution for the revival of the Legislative Council in the state. Accordingly, the Parliament enacted the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, 2010 which provided for the creation of Legislative Council in the state. However, before this Act was enforced, the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu passed another resolution in 2011 seeking the abolition of the proposed Legislative Council.
Composition of Assembly
Strength
The legislative assembly consists of representatives directly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise. Its maximum strength is fixed at 500 and minimum strength at 60. It means that its strength varies from 60 to 500 depending on the population size of the state3 . However, in case of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa, the minimum number is fixed at 30 and in case of Mizoram and Nagaland, it is 40 and 46 respectively. Further, some members of the legislative assemblies in Sikkim and Nagaland are also elected indirectly.
Nominated Member
The governor can nominate one member from the Anglo-Indian community, if the community is not adequately represented in the assembly. 4 Originally, this provision was to operate for ten years (ie, upto 1960). But this duration has been extended continuously since then by 10 years each time. Now, under the 95th Amendment Act of 2009, this is to last until 2020.
Territorial Constituencies
For the purpose of holding direct elections to the assembly, each state is divided into territorial constituencies. The demarcation of these constituencies is done in such a manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it is the same throughout the state. In other words, the Constitution ensures that there is uniformity of representation between different constituencies in the state. The expression ‘population’ means, the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published.
Readjustment after each census
After each census, a readjustment is to be made in the (a) total number of seats in the assembly of each state and (b) the division of each state into territorial constituencies. The Parliament is empowered to determine the authority and the manner in which it is to be made.
Accordingly, Parliament has enacted the Delimitation Commission Acts in 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 for this purpose. The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 had frozen total number of seats in the assembly of each state and the division of such state into territorial constituencies till the year 2000 at the 1971 level. This ban on readjustment has been extended for another years (i.e., up-to year 2026) by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001 with the same objective of encouraging population limiting measures. The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 also empowered the government to undertake readjustment and rationalisation of territorial constituencies in a state on the basis of the population figures of 1991 census. Later, the 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done without altering the total number of seats in the assembly of each state.
Reservation of seats for SCs and STs
The Constitution provided for the reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the assembly of each state on the basis of population ratios. Originally, this reservation was to operate for ten years (i.e., up to 1960). But this duration has been extended continuously since then by 10 years each time. Now, under the 95th Amendment Act of 2009, this reservation is to last until 2020.
Composition of Council
Strength
Unlike the members of the legislative assembly, the members of the legislative council are indirectly elected. The maximum strength of the council is fixed at one-third of the total strength of the assembly and the minimum strength is fixed at 40. It means that the size of the council depends on the size of the assembly of the concerned state. This is done to ensure the predominance of the directly elected House (assembly) in the legislative affairs of the state. Though the Constitution has fixed the maximum and the minimum limits, the actual strength of a Council is fixed by Parliament . Manner of Election Of the total number of members of a legislative council:

1.    1/3 are elected by the members of local bodies in the state like municipalities, district boards, etc.,

2.    1/12 are elected by graduates of three years standing and residing within the state,

3.    1/12 are elected by teachers of three years standing in the state, not lower in standard than secondary school,

4.    1/3 are elected by the members of the legislative assembly of the state from amongst persons who are not members of the assembly, and

5.    the remainder are nominated by the governor from amongst persons who have a special knowledge or practical experience of literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.
Thus, 5/6 of the total number of members of a legislative council are indirectly elected and 1/6 are nominated by the governor. The members are elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The bonafide or propriety of the governor’s nomination in any case cannot be challenged in the courts. This scheme of composition of a legislative council as laid down in the Constitution is tentative and not final. The Parliament is authorised to modify or replace the same. However, it has not enacted any such law so far.
DURATION OF TWO HOUSES
Duration of Assembly
Like the Lok Sabha, the legislative assembly is not a continuing chamber. Its normal term is five years from the date of its first meeting after the general elections8 . The expiration of the period of five years operates as automatic dissolution of the assembly. However, the governor is authorised to dissolve the assembly at any time (i.e., even before the completion of five years) to pave the way for fresh elections. Further, the term of the assembly can be extended during the period of national emergency by a law of Parliament for one year at a time (for any length of time). However, this extension cannot continue beyond a period of six months after the emergency has ceased to operate. This means that the assembly should be re-elected within six months after the revocation of emergency.
Duration of Council
Like the Rajya Sabha, the legislative council is a continuing chamber, that is, it is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. But, one-third of its members retire on the expiration of every second year. So, a member continues as such for six years. The vacant seats are filled up by fresh elections and nominations (by governor) at the beginning of every third year. The retiring members are also eligible for re-election and re-nomination any number of times.
MEMBERSHIP OF STATE LEGISLATURE

1.    Qualifications
The Constitution lays down the following qualifications for a person to be chosen a member of the state legislature.

(a)    He must be a citizen of India.

(b)    He must make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation before the person authorised by the Election Commission for this purpose. In his oath or affirmation, he swears

(i)    To bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India

(ii)    To uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India

(c)    He must be not less than 30 years of age in the case of the legislative council and not less than 25 years of age in the case of the legislative assembly.

(d)    He must posses other qualifications prescribed by Parliament.
Accordingly, the Parliament has laid down the following additional qualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951):

(a)    A person to be elected to the legislative council must be an elector for an assembly constituency in the concerned state and to be qualified for the governor’s nomination, he must be a resident in the concerned state.

(b)    A person to be elected to the legislative assembly must be an elector for an assembly constituency in the concerned state.

(c)    He must be a member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe if he wants to contest a seat reserved for them. However, a member of scheduled castes or scheduled tribes can also contest a seat not reserved for them.

2.    Disqualifications
Under the Constitution, a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as and for being a member of the legislative assembly or legislative council of a state:

(a)    if he holds any office of profit under the Union or state government (except that of a minister or any other office exempted by state legislature ),

(b)    if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court,

(c)    if he is an undischarged insolvent,

(d)    if he is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign state or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance to a foreign state, and

(e)    if he is so disqualified under any law made by Parliament. Accordingly, the Parliament has prescribed a number of additional disqualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951).
These are similar to those for Parliament. These are mentioned here:

1.    He must not have been found guilty of certain election offences or corrupt practices in the elections. 2. He must not have been convicted for any offence resulting in imprisonment for two or more years. But, the detention of a person under a preventive detention law is not a disqualification.

3.    He must not have failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within the time.

4.    He must not have any interest in government contracts, works or services.

5.    He must not be a director or managing agent nor hold an office of profit in a corporation in which the government has at least 25 per cent share.

6.    He must not have been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the state. 7. He must not have been convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offence of bribery.

8.    He must not have been punished for preaching and practicing social crimes such as untouchability, dowry and sati. On the question whether a member has become subject to any of the above disqualifications, the governor’s decision is final. However, he should obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and act accordingly.
Disqualification on Ground of Defection
The Constitution also lays down that a person shall be disqualified for being a member of either House of state legislature if he is so disqualified on the ground of defection under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule. The question of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule is decided by the Chairman, in the case of legislative council and, Speaker, in the case of legislative assembly (and not by the governor). In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that the decision of Chairman/Speaker in this regard is subject to judicial review.

2.    Oath or Affirmation
Every member of either House of state legislature, before taking his seat in the House, has to make and subscribe an oath or affirmation before the governor or some person appointed by him for this purpose. In this oath, a member of the state legislature swears:

(a)    to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India;

(b)    to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India; and

(c)    to faithfully discharge the duty of his office. Unless a member takes the oath, he cannot vote and participate in the proceedings of the House and does not become eligible to the privileges and immunities of the state legislature.
A person is liable to a penalty of ₹500 for each day he sits or votes as a member in a House:

(a)    before taking and subscribing the prescribed oath or affirmation; or

(b)    when he knows that he is not qualified or that he is disqualified for its membership; or

(c)    when he knows that he is prohibited from sitting or voting in the House by virtue of any law made by Parliament or the state legislature. Members of a state legislature are entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined by the state legislature.

4. Vacation of Seats
In the following cases, a member of the state legislature vacates his seat:

(a)    Double Membership: A person cannot be a member of both Houses of state legislature at one and the same time. If a person is elected to both the Houses, his seat in one of the Houses falls vacant as per the provisions of a law made by the state legislature.

(b)    Disqualification: If a member of the state legislature becomes subject to any of the disqualifications, his seat becomes vacant.

(c)    Resignation: A member may resign his seat by writing to the Chairman of legislative council or Speaker of legislative assembly, as the case may be. The seat falls vacant when the resignation is accepted .

(d)    Absence: A House of the state legislature can declare the seat of a member vacant if he absents himself from all its meeting for a period of sixty days without its permission.

(e)    Other Cases: A member has to vacate his seat in the either House of state legislature,

(i)    if his election is declared void by the court,

(ii)    if he is expelled by the House,

(iii)    if he is elected to the office of president or office of vice-president and

(iv)    if he is appointed to the office of government of state.
PRESIDING OFFICERS OF STATE LEGISLATURE
Each House of state legislature has its own presiding officer. There is a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker for the legislative assembly and a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman for the legislative council. A panel of chairman for the assembly and a panel of vice-chairman for the council is also appointed.
Speaker of Assembly
The Speaker is elected by the assembly itself from amongst its members. Usually, the Speaker remains in office during the life of the assembly. However, he vacates his office earlier in any of the following three cases:

1.    if he ceases to be a member of the assembly;

2.    if he resigns by writing to the deputy speaker; and

3.    if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the assembly. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days advance notice.
The Speaker has the following powers and duties:

1.    He maintains order and decorum in the assembly for conducting its business and regulating its proceedings. This is his primary responsibility and he has final power in this regard.

2.    He is the final interpreter of the provisions of

(a)    the Constitution of India,

(b)    the rules of procedure and conduct of business of assembly, and

(c)    the legislative precedents, within the assembly.

3.    He adjourns the assembly or suspends the meeting in the absence of a quorum.

4.    He does not vote in the first instance. But, he can exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.

5.    He can allow a ‘secret’ sitting of the House at the request of the leader of the House.

6.    He decides whether a bill is a Money Bill or not and his decision on this question is final.

7.    He decides the questions of disqualification of a member of the assembly, arising on the ground of defection under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule.
Deputy Speaker of Assembly
Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker is also elected by the assembly itself from amongst its members. He is elected after the election of the Speaker has taken place. Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office usually during the life of the assembly. However, he also vacates his office earlier in any of the following three cases:

1.    if he ceases to be a member of the assembly;

2.    if he resigns by writing to the speaker; and

3.    if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the assembly.
Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice. The Deputy Speaker performs the duties of the Speaker’s office when it is vacant. He also acts as the Speaker when the latter is absent from the sitting of assembly. In both the cases, he has all the powers of the Speaker. The Speaker nominates from amongst the members a panel of chairman. Any one of them can preside over the assembly in the absence of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker. He has the same powers as the speaker when so presiding. He holds office until a new panel of chairman is nominated.
SESSIONS OF STATE LEGISLATURE
Summoning
The governor from time to time summons each House of state legislature to meet. The maximum gap between the two sessions of state legislature cannot be more than six months, i.e., the state legislature should meet at least twice a year. A session of the state legislature consists of many sittings. Adjournment An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time which may be hours, days or weeks.
Adjournment
sine die means terminating a sitting of the state legislature for an indefinite period. The power of the adjournment as well as adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.
Prorogation
The presiding officer (Speaker or Chairman) declares the House adjourned sine die, when the business of the session is completed. Within the next few days, the governor issues a notification for prorogation of the session. However, the
governor can also prorogue the House which is in session. Unlike an adjournment, a prorogation terminates a session of the House.
Dissolution
The legislative council, being a permanent house, is not subject to dissolution. Only the legislative assembly is subject to dissolution. Unlike a prorogation, a dissolution ends the very life of the existing House, and a new House is constituted after the general elections are held. The position with respect to lapsing of bills on the dissolution of the assembly is mentioned below:

1.    A Bill pending in the assembly lapses (whether originating in the assembly or transmitted to it by the council).

2.    A Bill passed by the assembly but pending in the council lapses.

3.    A Bill pending in the council but not passed by the assembly does not lapse.

4.    A Bill passed by the assembly (in a unicameral state) or passed by both the houses (in a bicameral state) but pending assent of the governor or the President does not lapse.

5.    A Bill passed by the assembly (in a unicameral state) or passed by both the Houses (in a bicameral state) but returned by the president for reconsideration of House (s) does not lapse.
Quorum
Quorum is the minimum number of members required to be present in the House before it can transact any business. It is ten members or one-tenth of the total number of members of the House (including the presiding officer), whichever is greater. If there is no quorum during a meeting of the House, it is the duty of the presiding officer either to adjourn the House or to suspend the meeting until there is a quorum.
Voting in House
All matters at any sitting of either House are decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting excluding the presiding officer. Only a few matters which are specifically mentioned in the Constitution like removal of the speaker of the assembly, removal of the Chairman of the council and so on require special majority, not ordinary majority. The presiding officer (i.e., Speaker in the case of assembly or chairman in the case of council or the person acting as such) does not vote in the first instance, but exercises a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
Language in State Legislature
The Constitution has declared the official language(s) of the state or Hindi or English, to be the languages for transacting business in the state legislature. However, the presiding officer can permit a member to address the House in his mother-tongue. The state legislature is authorised to decide whether to continue or discontinue English as a floor language after the completion of fifteen years from the commencement of the Constitution (i.e., from 1965). In case of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura, this time limit is twenty-five years and that of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram, it is forty years.
Rights of Ministers and Advocate General
In addition to the members of a House, every minister and the advocate general of the state have the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of either House or any of its committees of which he is named a member, without being entitled to vote. There are two reasons underlying this constitutional provision:

1.    A minister can participate in the proceedings of a House, of which he is not a member.

2.    A minister, who is not a member of either House, can participate in the proceedings of both the Houses.
LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE IN STATE LEGISLATURE
Ordinary Bills Bill in the Originating House An ordinary bill can originate in either House of the state legislature (in case of a bicameral legislature). Such a bill can be introduced either by a minister or by any other member. The bill passes through three stages in the originating House, viz,

1.    First reading,

2.    Second reading, and

3.    Third reading.
After the bill is passed by the originating House, it is transmitted to the second House for consideration and passage. A bill is deemed to have been passed by the state legislature only when both the Houses have agreed to it, either with or without amendments. In case of a unicameral legislature, a bill passed by the legislative assembly is sent directly to the governor for his assent.
Bill in the Second House
In the second House also, the bill passes through all the three stages, that is, first reading, second reading and third reading. When a bill is passed by the legislative assembly and transmitted to the legislative council, the latter has four alternatives before it:

1.    it may pass the bill as sent by the assembly (i.e., without amendments);

2.    it may pass the bill with amendments and return it to the assembly for reconsideration;

3.    it may reject the bill altogether; and

4.    it may not take any action and thus keep the bill pending. If the council passes the bill without amendments or the assembly accepts the amendments suggested by the council, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses and the same is sent to the the governor for his assent.
On the other hand, if the assembly rejects the amendments suggested by the council or the council rejects the bill altogether or the council does not take any action for three months, then the assembly may pass the bill again and transmit the same to the council. If the council rejects the bill again or passes the bill with amendments not acceptable to the assembly or does not pass the bill within one month, then the bill is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses in the form in which it was passed by the assembly for the second time. Therefore, the ultimate power of passing an ordinary bill is vested in the assembly. At the most, the council can detain or delay the bill for a period of four months–three months in the first instance and one month in the second instance. The Constitution does not provide for the mechanism of joint sitting of both the Houses to resolve the disagreement between the two Houses over a bill. On the other hand, there is a provision for joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to resolve a disagreement between the two over an ordinary bill. Moreover, when a bill, which has originated in the council and was sent to the assembly, is rejected by the assembly, the bill ends and becomes dead. Thus, the council has been given much lesser significance, position and authority than that of the Rajya Sabha at the Centre.
Assent of the Governor
Every bill, after it is passed by the assembly or by both the Houses in case of a bicameral legislature, is presented to the governor for his assent. There are four alternatives before the governor:

1.    he may give his assent to the bill;

2.    he may withhold his assent to the bill;

3.    he may return the bill for reconsideration of the House or Houses; and

4.    he may reserve the bill for the consideration of the President. If the governor gives his assent to the bill, the bill becomes an Act and is placed on the Statute Book. If the governor withholds his assent to the bill, the bill ends and does not become an Act. If the governor returns the bill for reconsideration and if the bill is passed by the House or both the Houses again, with or without amendments, and presented to the governor for his assent, the governor must give his assent to the bill. Thus, the governor enjoys only a suspensive veto. The position is same at the Central level also.
Assent of the President
When a bill is reserved by the governor for the consideration of the President, the President may either give his assent to the bill or withhold his assent to the bill or return the bill for reconsideration of the House or Houses of the state legislature. When a bill is so returned, the House or Houses have to reconsider it within a period of six months. The bill is presented again to the presidential assent after it is passed by the House or Houses with or without amendments. It is not mentioned in the Constitution whether it is obligatory on the part of the president to give his assent to such a bill or not.
Money Bills
The Constitution lays down a special procedure for the passing of Money Bills in the state legislature. This is as follows: A Money Bill cannot be introduced in the legislative council. It can be introduced in the legislative assembly only and that too on the recommendation of the governor. Every such bill is considered to be a government bill and can be introduced only by a minister. After a Money Bill is passed by the legislative assembly, it is transmitted to the legislative council for its consideration. The legislative council has
restricted powers with regard to a Money Bill. It cannot reject or amend a Money Bill. It can only make recommendations and must return the bill to the legislative assembly within 14 days. The legislative assembly can either accept or reject all or any of the recommendations of the legislative council. If the legislative assembly accepts any recommendation, the bill is then deemed to have been passed by both the Houses in the modified form. If the legislative assembly does not accept any recommendation, the bill is then deemed to have been passed by both the Houses in the form originally passed by the legislative assembly without any change. If the legislative council does not return the bill to the legislative assembly within 14 days, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiry of the said period in the form originally passed by the legislative assembly. Thus, the legislative assembly has more powers than legislative council with regard to a money bill. At the most, the legislative council can detain or delay a money bill for a period of 14 days. Finally, when a Money Bill is presented to the governor, he may either give his assent, withhold his assent or reserve the bill for presidential assent but cannot return the bill for reconsideration of the state legislature. Normally, the governor gives his assent to a money bill as it is introduced in the state legislature with his prior permission.
POSITION OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
The constitutional position of the council (as compared with the assembly) can be studied from two angles:

A.    Spheres where council is equal to assembly.

B.    Spheres where council is unequal to assembly.
Equal with Assembly In the following matters, the powers and status of the council are broadly equal to that of the assembly:

1.    Introduction and passage of ordinary bills. However, in case of disagreement between the two Houses, the will of the assembly prevails over that of the council.

2.    Approval of ordinances issued by the governor .

3.    Selection of ministers including the chief minister. Under the Constitution the, ministers including the chief minister can be members of either House of the state legislature. However, irrespective of their membership, they are responsible only to the assembly.

4.    Consideration of the reports of the constitutional bodies like State Finance Commission, state public service commission and Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

5.    Enlargement of the jurisdiction of the state public service commission.
Unequal with Assembly In the following matters, the powers and status of the council are unequal to that of the assembly:

1.    A Money Bill can be introduced only in the assembly and not in the council.

2.    The council cannot amend or reject a money bill. It should return the bill to the assembly within 14 days, either with recommendations or without recommendations.

3.    The assembly can either accept or reject all or any of the recommendation of the council. In both the cases, the money bill is deemed to have been passed by the two Houses.

4.    The final power to decide whether a particular bill is a money bill or not is vested in the Speaker of the assembly.
PRIVILEGES OF STATE LEGISLATURE
Privileges of a state legislature are a sum of special rights, immunities and exemptions enjoyed by the Houses of state legislature, their committees and their members. They are necessary in order to secure the independence and effectiveness of their actions. Without these privileges, the Houses can neither maintain their authority, dignity and honour nor can protect their members from any obstruction in the discharge of their legislative responsibilities. The Constitution has also extended the privileges of the state legislature to those persons who are entitled to speak and take part in the proceedings of a House of the state legislature or any of its committees. These include advocategeneral of the state and state ministers. It must be clarified here that the privileges of the state legislature do not extend to the governor who is also an integral part of the state legislature. The privileges of a state legislature can be classified into two broad categories–those that are enjoyed by each House of the state legislature collectively, and those that are enjoyed by the members individually.
Summary
the state legislature occupies a preeminent and central position in the political system of a state. Articles 168 to 212 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the organisation, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers and so on of the state legislature. Though these are similar to that of Parliament, there are some differences as well.
Self Check Exercise

•    Organization of State Legislature

•    Duration of Two Houses

•    Presiding Officers of State Legislature

•    Sessions of State Legislature
Glossary
Money Bills : A Money Bill cannot be introduced in the legislative council. It can be introduced in the legislative assembly only and that too on the recommendation of the governor.
Answer to Self - Check Exercise

a)    2.1,2.2

b)    2.3,2.4
Suggested Reading

•    Volume VII, P.35-38.7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
Terminal Questions

•    Explain procedures of state procedures
Governor
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Appointment of Governor

Conditions of Governor Office
Term of Governor Office
Power and Function of Governor
Constitutional Provision of Governor
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise

3.11S uggested Reading

3.12 Terminal Questions
Learning Objectives

•    We able to understand role of governor

•    Power and function of governor
Introduction
The Constitution of India envisages the same pattern of government in the states as that for the Centre, that is, a parliamentary system. Part VI of the Constitution deals with the government in the states. Articles 153 to 167 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the state executive. The state executive consists of the governor, the chief minister, the council of ministers and the
advocate general of the state. Thus, there is no office of vice-governor (in the state) like that of Vice-President at the Centre. The governor is the chief executive head of the state. But, like the president, he is a nominal executive head (titular or constitutional head). The governor also acts as an agent of the central government. Therefore, the office of governor has a dual role. Usually, there is a governor for each state, but the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.
APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNOR
The governor is neither directly elected by the people nor indirectly elected by a specially constituted electoral college as is the case with the president. He is appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal. In a way, he is a nominee of the Central government. But, as held by the Supreme Court in 1979, the office of governor of a state is not an employment under the Central government. It is an independent constitutional office and is not under the control of or subordinate to the Central government. The Draft Constitution provided for the direct election of the governor on the basis of universal adult suffrage. But the Constituent Assembly opted for the present system of appointment of governor by the president because of the following reasons:

1.    The direct election of the governor is incompatible with the parliamentary system established in the states.

2.    The mode of direct election is more likely to create conflicts between the governor and the chief minister.

3.    The governor being only a constitutional (nominal) head, there is no point in making elaborate arrangements for his election and spending huge amount of money.

4.    The election of a governor would be entirely on personal issues. Hence, it is not in the national interest to involve a large number of voters in such an election.

5.    An elected governor would naturally belong to a party and would not be a neutral person and an impartial head.

6.    The election of governor would create separatist tendencies and thus affect the political stability and unity of the country.

7.    The system of presidential nomination enables the Centre to maintain its control over the states.

8.    The direct election of the governor creates a serious problem of leadership at the time of a general election in the state.

9.    The chief minister would like his nominee to contest for governorship. Hence, a second rate man of the ruling party is elected as governor.
Therefore, the American model, where the Governor of a state is directly elected, was dropped and the Canadian model, where the governor of a province (state) is appointed by the GovernorGeneral (Centre), was accepted in the Constituent Assembly. The Constitution lays down only two qualifications for the appointment of a person as a governor. These are:

1.    He should be a citizen of India.

2.    He should have completed the age of 35 years.
Additionally, two conventions have also developed in this regard over the years. First, he should be an outsider, that is, he should not belong to the state where he is appointed, so that he is free from the local politics. Second, while appointing the governor, the president is required to consult the chief minister of the state concerned, so that the smooth functioning of the constitutional machinery in the state is ensured. However, both the conventions have been violated in some of the case
CONDITIONS OF GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
The Constitution lays down the following conditions for the the governor’s office:

1.    He should not be a member of either House of Parliament or a House of the state legislature. If any such person is appointed as governor, he is deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as the governor.

2.    He should not hold any other office of profit.

3.    He is entitled without payment of rent to the use of his official residence (the Raj Bhavan).

4.    He is entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by Parliament.

5.    When the same person is appointed as the governor of two or more states, the emoluments and allowances payable to him are shared by the states in such proportion as determined by the president.

6.    His emoluments and allowances cannot be diminished during his term of office. In 2018, the Parliament has increased the salary of the governor from ₹1.10 lakh to ₹3.50 lakh per month. Like the President, the governor is also entitled to a number of privileges and immunities. He enjoys personal immunity from legal liability for his official acts. During his term of office, he is immune from any criminal proceedings, even in respect of his personal acts. He cannot be arrested or imprisoned. However, after giving two months’ notice, civil proceedings can be instituted against him during his term of office in respect of his personal acts. Before entering upon his office, the governor has to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation. In his oath, the governor swears:

(a)    to faithfully execute the office;

(b)    to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law; and

(c)    to devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of the state.
The oath of office to the governor is administered by the chief justice of the concerned state high court and in his absence, the senior-most judge of that court available.
TERM OF GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
A governor holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office. However, this term of five years is subject to the pleasure of the President. Further, he can resign at any time by addressing a resignation letter to the President. The Supreme Court held that the pleasure of the President is not justifiable. The governor has no security of tenure and no fixed term of office. He may be removed by the President at any time. The Constitution does not lay down any grounds upon which a governor may be removed by the President. Hence, the National Front Government headed by V.P. Singh (1989) asked all the governorsto resign as they were appointed by the Congress government. Eventually, some of the governors were replaced and some were allowed to continue. The same thing was repeated in 1991, when the Congress Government headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao changed fourteen governors appointed by the V.P. Singh and Chandra Sekhar governments. The President may transfer a Governor appointed to one state to another state for the rest of the term. Further, a Governor whose term has expired may be reappointed in the same state or any other state. A governor
can hold office beyond his term of five years until his successor assumes charge. The underlying idea is that there must be a governor in the state and there cannot be an interregnum. The President can make such provision as he thinks fit for the discharge of the functions of the governor in any contingency not provided for in the Constitution, for example, the death of a sitting governor. Thus, the chief justice of the concerned state high court may be appointed temporarily to discharge the functions of the governor of that state.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNOR
A governor possesses executive, legislative, financial and judicial powers more or less analogous to the President of India. However, he has no diplomatic, military or emergency powers like the president. The powers and functions of the governor can be studied under the following heads:

1.    Executive powers.

2.    Legislative powers.

3.    Financial powers.

4.    Judicial powers.
Executive Powers
The executive powers and functions of the Governor are:

1.    All executive actions of the government of a state are formally taken in his name.

2.    He can make rules specifying the manner in which the Orders and other instruments made and executed in his name shall be authenticated.

3.    He can make rules for more convenient transaction of the business of a state government and for the allocation among the ministers of the said business.

4.    He appoints the chief minister and other ministers. They also hold office during his pleasure. There should be a Tribal Welfare minister in the states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha appointed by him. The state of Bihar was excluded from this provision by the 94th Amendment Act of 2006.

5.    He appoints the advocate general of a state and determines his remuneration. The advocate general holds office during the pleasure of the governor.

6.    He appoints the state election commissioner and determines his conditions of service and tenure of office. However, the state election commissioner can be removed only in like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of a high court.

7.    He appoints the chairman and members of the state public service commission. However, they can be removed only by the president and not by a governor.

8.    He can seek any information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation from the chief minister.

9.    He can require the chief minister to submit for the consideration of the council of ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a minister but which has not been considered by the council.

10.    He can recommend the imposition of constitutional emergency in a state to the president. During the period of President’s rule in a state, the governor enjoys extensive executive powers as an agent of the President.

11.    He acts as the chancellor of universities in the state. He also appoints the vice-chancellors of universities in the state.
Legislative Powers
A governor is an integral part of the state legislature. In that capacity, he has the following legislative powers and functions:

1.    He can summon or prorogue the state legislature and dissolve the state legislative assembly.

2.    He can address the state legislature at the commencement of the first session after each general election and the first session of each year.

3.    He can send messages to the house or houses of the state legislature, with respect to a bill pending in the legislature or otherwise.

4.    He can appoint any member of the State legislative assembly to preside over its proceedings when the offices of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker fall vacant. Similarly, he can appoint any member of the state legislature council to preside over its proceedings when the offices of both Chairman and Deputy Chairman fall vacant.

5.    He nominates one-sixth of the members of the state legislative council from amongst persons having special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.

6.    He can nominate one member to the state legislature assembly from the Anglo-Indian Community.

7.    He decides on the question of disqualification of members of the state legislature in consultation with the Election Commission.

8.    When a bill is sent to the governor after it is passed by state legislature, he can:

(a)    Give his assent to the bill, or

(b)    Withhold his assent to the bill, or

(c)    Return the bill (if it is not a money bill) for reconsideration of the state legislature. However, if the bill is passed again by the state legislature with or without amendments, the governor has to give his assent to the bill, or

(d)    Reserve the bill for the consideration of the president. In one case such reservation is obligatory, that is, where the bill passed by the state legislature endangers the position of the state high court. In addition, the governor can also reserve the bill if it is of the following nature:

(i)    Ultra-vires, that is, against the provisions of the Constitution.

(ii ) Opposed to the Directive Principles of State Policy.

(ii i) Against the larger interest of the country.

(iv ) Of grave national importance.

(v)    Dealing with compulsory acquisition of property under Article the Constitution.

9.    He can promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in session. These ordinances must be approved by the state legislature within six weeks from its reassembly. He can also withdraw an ordinance anytime. This is the most important legislative power of the governor.

10.    He lays the reports of the State Finance Commission, the State Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor- General relating to the accounts of the state, before the state legislature.
Financial Powers
The financial powers and functions of the governor are:

1.    He sees that the Annual Financial Statement (state budget) is laid before the state legislature.

2.    Money bills can be introduced in the state legislature only with his prior recommendation.

3.    No demand for a grant can be made except on his recommendation.

4.    He can make advances out of the Contingency Fund of the state to meet any unforeseen expenditure.

5.    He constitutes a finance commission after every five years to review the financial position of the panchayats and the municipalities.
Judicial Powers
The judicial powers and functions of the governor are:

1.    He can grant pardons, reprives, respites and remissions of punishment or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.

2.    He is consulted by the president while appointing the judges of the concerned state high court. He makes appointments, postings and promotions of the district

3.    judges in consultation with the state high court. He also appoints persons to the judicial service of the state (other than district judges) in consultation with the state high court and the State Public Service Commission.

4.    Now, we will study in detail the three important powers of the governor (veto power, ordinance-making power and pardoning power) by comparing them with that of the President
CONSTITUTIONAL-POSITION-OF-GOVERNOR
The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary form of government in the states as in the Centre. Consequently, the governor has been made only a nominal executive, the real executive constitutes the council of ministers headed by the chief minister. In other words, the governor has to exercise his powers and functions with the aid and advise of the council of ministers headed by the chief minister, except in matters in which he is required to act in his discretion (i.e., without the advice of ministers). In estimating the constitutional position of the governor,                                                                          particular
reference has to be made to the provisions of Articles 154, 163 and 164. These are:

(a)    The executive power of the state shall be vested in the governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution (Article                                                                                     154).

(b)    There shall be a council of ministers with the chief minister as the head to aid and advise the governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his functions            in            his            discretion            (Article            163).

(c)    The council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of the state (Article 164). This provision is the foundation of the parliamentary system of government in the state. From the above, it is clear that constitutional position of the governor differs from that      of      the      president      in      the      following      two     respects:

1.    While the Constitution envisages the possibility of the governor acting at times in his discretion, no such possibility has been envisaged for the President.

2.    After the 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976), ministerial advice has been made binding on the President, but no such provision has been made with respect to the governor. The Constitution makes it clear that if any question arises whether a matter falls within the governor’s discretion or not, the decision of the governor is final and the validity of anything done by him cannot be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion. The governor has constitutional discretion in the following cases: 1. Reservation of a bill for the consideration of the President.

2.    Recommendation for the imposition of the President’s Rule in the state.

3.    While exercising his functions as the administrator of an adjoining union territory (in case of additional charge).

4.    Determining the amount payable by the Government of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to an autonomous Tribal District Council as royalty accruing from licenses for mineral exploration7 .

5.    Seeking information from the chief minister with regard to the administrative and legislative matters of the state. In addition to the above constitutional discretion (i.e., the express discretion mentioned in the Constitution), the governor, like the president, also has situational discretion (i.e., the hidden discretion derived from the exigencies of a prevailing political situation) in the following cases:

1.    Appointment of chief minister when no party has a clear-cut majority in the state legislative assembly or when the chief minister in office dies suddenly and there is no obvious successor.

2.    Dismissal of the council of ministers when it cannot prove the confidence of the state legislative assembly.

3.    Dissolution of the state legislative assembly if the council of ministers has lost its majority.
Moreover, the governor has certain special responsibilities to discharge according to the directions issued by the President. In this regard, the governor, though has to consult the council of ministers led by the chief minister, acts finally on his discretion. They are as follows:

1.    Maharashtra–Establishment of separate development boards for Vidarbha and Marathwada.

2.    Gujarat–Establishment of separate development boards for Saurashtra and Kutch.

3.    Nagaland–With respect to law and order in the state for so long as the internal disturbance in the Naga Hills-TUensang Area continues.

4.    Assam–With respect to the administration of tribal areas.

5.    Manipur–Regarding the administration of the hill areas in the state.

6.    Sikkim–For peace and for ensuring social and economic advancement of the different sections of the population.

7.    Arunachal Pradesh–With respect to law and order in the state.

8.    Karnataka - Establishment of a separate development board for Hyderabad-Karnataka region .
Summary
Thus, the Constitution has assigned a dual role to the office of a governor in the Indian federal system. He is the constitutional head of the state as well as the representative of the Centre (i.e., President)
Self-Check Exercise•  Appointment of Governor•  Term of Governor’s office•  Conditions of Governor’s office•  Power and Functions of Governor’s
Glossary
7th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956: Appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise

a)    3.2, 3.3

b)    3.4,3.5
Suggested Reading

•    Volume VII, P.35–38.7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
Terminal Questions

•    Power and Function of State Governor?
Chief minister and council of minister
Structure
Learning Objectives
appointment of chief minister
Oath, term and salary
Power and function of chief minister
Relationship with the governor
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Learning Objectives

•    Able to understand about chief minister and council of minister
APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF MINISTER
The Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the selection and appointment of the Chief Minister. Article 164 only says that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor. However, this does not imply that the governor is free to appoint any one as the Chief Minister. In accordance with the conventions of the parliamentary system of government, the governor has to appoint the leader of the majority party in the state legislative assembly as the Chief Minister. But, when no party has a clear majority in the assembly, then the governor may exercise his personal discretion in the selection and appointment of the Chief Minister.
In such a situation, the governor usually appoints the leader of the largest party or coalition in the assembly as the Chief Minister and ask him to seek a vote of confidence in the House within a month. The governor may have to exercise his individual judgement in the selection and appointed of the Chief Minister when the Chief Minister in office dies suddenly and there is no obvious successor. However, on the death of a Chief Minister, the ruling party usually elects a new leader and the governor has no choice but to appoint him as Chief Minister.
The Constitution does not require that a person must prove his majority in the legislative assembly before he is appointed as the Chief Minister. The governor may first appoint him as the Chief Minister and then ask him to prove his majority in the legislative assembly within a reasonable period. This is what has been done in a number of cases.
A person who is not a member of the state legislature can be appointed as Chief Minister for six months, within which time, he should be elected to the state legislature, failing which he ceases to be the Chief Minister.
According to the Constitution, the Chief Minister may be a member of any of the two Houses of a state legislature. Usually, Chief Ministers have been selected from the Lower House (legislative assembly), but, on a number of occasions, a member of the Upper House (legislative council) has also been appointed as Chief Minister.
The Constitution does not require that a person must prove his majority in the legislative assembly before he is appointed as the Chief Minister. The governor may first appoint him as the Chief Minister and then ask him to prove his majority in the legislative assembly within a reasonable period. This is what has been done in a number of cases .
A person who is not a member of the state legislature can be appointed as Chief Minister for six months, within which time, he should be elected to the state legislature, failing which he ceases to be the Chief Minister.
According to the Constitution, the Chief Minister may be a member of any of the two Houses of a state legislature. Usually Chief Ministers have been selected from the Lower House (legislative assembly), but, on a number of occasions, a member of the Upper House (legislative council) has also been appointed as Chief Minister.
OATH, TERM AND SALARY
Before the Chief Minister enters his office, the governor administers to him the oaths of office and secrecy. In his oath of office, the Chief Minister swears:

1.    to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India,

2.    to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India,

3.    to faithfully and conscientiously discharge the duties of his office, and

4.    to do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
In his oath of secrecy, the Chief Minister swears that he will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person(s) any matter that is brought under his consideration or becomes known to him as a state minister except as may be required for the due discharge of his duties as such minister.
The term of the Chief Minister is not fixed and he holds office during the pleasure of the governor. However, this does not mean that the governor can dismiss him at any time. He cannot be dismissed by the governor as long as he enjoys the majority support in the legislative assembly. But, if he loses the confidence of the assembly, he must resign or the governor can dismiss him.
The salary and allowances of the Chief Minister are determined by the state legislature. In addition to the salary and allowances, which are payable to a member of the state legislature, he gets a sumptuary allowance, free accommodation, travelling allowance, medical facilities, etc.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF CHIEF MINISTER
The powers and functions of the Chief Minister can be studied under the following heads:
In Relation to Council of Ministers
The Chief Minister enjoys the following powers as head of the state council of ministers:

(a)    The governor appoints only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the Chief Minister.

(b)    He allocates and reshuffles the portfolios among ministers.

(c)    He can ask a minister to resign or advise the governor to dismiss him in case of difference of opinion.

(d)    He presides over the meetings of the council of ministers and influences its decisions.

(e)    He guides, directs, controls and coordinates the activities of all the ministers.

(f)    He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office. Since the Chief Minister is the head of the council of ministers, his resignation or death automatically dissolves the council of ministers. The resignation or death of any other minister, on the other hand, merely creates a vacancy, which the Chief Minister may or may not like to
In Relation to the Governor
The Chief Minister enjoys the following powers in relation to the governor:

(a)    He is the principal channel of communication between the governor and the council of ministers. It is the duty of the Chief Minister:

(i)    to communicate to the Governor of the state all decisions of council of ministers relating to the administration of the affairs the state and proposals for legislation;

(ii)    to furnish such information relating to the administration of affairs of the state and proposals for legislation as the govern may call for; and

(iii)    if the governor so requires, to submit for the consideration of council of ministers any matter on which a decision has be taken by a minister but which has not been considered by council.

(b)    He advises the governor with regard to the appointment of important officials like advocate general, chairman and members of the state public service commission, state election commissioner, and so on
In Relation to State Legislature
The Chief Minister enjoys the following powers as the leader of the house:

(a)    He advises the governor with regard to the summoning and proroguing of the sessions of the state legislature.

(b)    He can recommend the dissolution of the legislative assembly to the governor at any time.

(c)    He announces the government policies on the floor of the house.
Other Powers and Functions
In addition, the Chief Minister also performs the following functions:

(a)    He is the chairman of the State Planning Board.

(b)    He acts as a vice-chairman of the concerned zonal council by rotation, holding office for a period of one year at a time.

(c)    He is a member of the Inter-State Council and the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, both headed by the prime minister.

(d)    He is the chief spokesman of the state government.

(e)    He is the crisis manager-in-chief at the political level during emergencies.

(f)    As a leader of the state, he meets various sections of the people and receives memoranda from them regarding their problems, and so on.

(g)    He is the political head of the services. Thus, he plays a very significant and highly crucial role in the state administration. However, the discretionary powers enjoyed by the governor reduces to some extent the power, authority, influence, prestige and role of the Chief Minister in the state administration.
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOVERNOR
The following provisions of the Constitution deal with the relationship between the governor and the Chief Minister:

1.    Article 163: There shall be a council of ministers with the Chief Minister as the head to aid and advise the governor on the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.

2.    Article 164:

(a)    The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor and other ministers shall be appointed by the governor on the advise of the Chief Minister;

(b)    The ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the governor; and

(c)    The council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of the state.

3.    Article 167: It shall be the duty of the Chief Minister:

(a)    to communicate to the governor of the state all decisions of the council of ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation;

(b)    to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation as the governor may call for; and

(c)    if the governor so requires, to submit for the consideration of the council of ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a minister but which has not been considered by the council.
Summary
In the scheme of parliamentary system of government provided by the Constitution, the governor is the nominal executive authority (de jure executive) and the Chief Minister is the real executive authority (de facto executive). In other words, the governor is the head of the state while the Chief Minister is the head of the government. Thus, the position of the Chief Minister at the state level is analogous to the position of prime minister at the Centre.
Self-Check Exercise•    Relationship with the Governor•    Power and Function of Chief Minister
Glossary

1.    Article 163: There shall be a council of ministers with the Chief Minister as the head to aid and advise the governor on the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.

2.    The Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the selection and appointment of the Chief Minister. Article 164 only says that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor. However, this does not imply that the governor is free to appoint any one as the Chief Minister.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise a) 4.3, 4.4.
Suggested Reading

•    Volume VII, P.35–38.7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
Terminal Questions•    Power and functions of chief Minister?
A State Council of Ministers
Structure
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
INTRODUCTION
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
NATURE OF ADVICE BY MINISTERS
APPOINTMENT OF MINISTERS
OATH AND SALARY OF MINISTERS
RESPONSIBILITY OF MINISTERS
COMPOSITION OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
CABINET
SUMMARY
SELF CHECK EXERCISE
GLOSSARY
ANSWER TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE
SUGGESTED READING
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
LEARNING OBJECTIVE

•    To understand able to state council of minister
INTRODUCTION
The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary system of government in the states on the Union pattern, the council of ministers headed by the chief minister is the real executive authority in the politico-administrative system of a state. The council of ministers in the states is constituted and function in the same way as the council of ministers at the Centre. The principles of parliamentary system of government are not detailed in the Constitution; but two Articles (163 and 164) deal with them in a broad, sketchy and general manner. Article 163 deals with the status of the council of ministers while Article 164 deals with the appointment, tenure, responsibility, qualifications, oath and salaries and allowances of the ministers.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
Article 163–Council of Ministers to aid and advise
Governor

1.    There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his functions in his discretion.

2.    If any question arises whether a matter falls within the Governor’s discretion or not, decision of the Governor shall be final, and the validity of anything done by the Governor shall not be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion.

3.    The advice tendered by Ministers to the Governor shall not be inquired into in any court.
Article 164–Other Provisions as to Ministers

1.    The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. However, in the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the scheduled castes and backward classes or any other work. The state of Bihar was excluded from this provision by the 94th Amendment Act of 2006.

2.    The total number of ministers, including the chief minister, in the council of ministers in a state shall not exceed 15 percent of the total strength of the legislative assembly of that state. But, the number of ministers, including the chief minister, in a state shall not be less than. This provision was added by the 91st Amendment Act of 2003.

3.    A member of either House of state legislature belonging to any political party who is disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a minister. This provision was also added by the 91st Amendment Act of 2003.

4.    The ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.

5.    The council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the state Legislative Assembly.

6.    The Governor shall administer the oaths of office and secrecy to a minister.

7.    A minister who is not a member of the state legislature for any period of six consecutive months shall cease to be a minister.

8.    The salaries and allowances of ministers shall be determined by the state legislature.
Article 166–Conduct of Business of the Government of a State

1.    All executive action of the Government of a State shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the Governor.

2.    Orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of the Governor shall be authenticated in such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the Governor. Further, the validity of an order or instrument which is so authenticated shall not be called in question on the ground that it is not an order or instrument made or executed by the Governor.

3.    The Governor shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the government of the state, and for the allocation among ministers of the said business in so far as it is not business with respect to which the Governor is required to act in his discretion.
Article 167–Duties of Chief Minister
It shall be the duty of the Chief Minister of each state

1.    To communicate to the governor of the state all decisions of the council of ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation

2.    To furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation as the governor may call for

3.    If the governor so requires, to submit for the consideration of the council of ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a minister but which has not been considered by the council.
Article 177–Rights of Ministers as Respects the Houses
Every minister shall have the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of the Assembly (and also the Council where it exists) and any Committee of the State Legislature of which he may be named a member. But he shall not be entitled to vote.
NATURE OF ADVICE BY MINISTERS
Article 163 provides for a council of ministers with the chief minister at the head to aid and advise the governor in the exercise of his functions except the discretionary ones. If any question arises whether a matter falls within the governor’s discretion or not, the decision of the governor is final and the validity of anything done by him cannot be called in question on
the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion. Further, the nature of advice tendered by ministers to the governor cannot be enquired by any court. This provision emphasises the intimate and the confidential relationship between the governor and the ministers.
In 1971, the Supreme Court ruled that a council of ministers must always exist to advise the governor, even after the dissolution of the state legislative assembly or resignation of a council of ministers. Hence, the existing ministry may continue in the office until its successor assumes charge. Again in 1974, the Court clarified that except in spheres where the governor is to act in his discretion, the governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers in the exercise of his powers and functions. He is not required to act personally without the aid and advice of the council of ministers or against the aid and advice of the council of ministers. Wherever the Constitution requires the satisfaction of the governor, the satisfaction is not the personal satisfaction of the governor but it is the of the council of ministers.
APPOINTMENT OF MINISTERS
The chief minister is appointed by the governor. The other ministers are appointed by the governor on the advice of the chief minister. This means that the governor can appoint only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the chief minister. But, there should be a tribal welfare minister in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha1. Originally, this provision was applicable to Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. The 94th Amendment Act of 2006 freed Bihar from the obligation of having a tribal welfare minister as there are no Scheduled Areas in Bihar now and the fraction of population of the Scheduled Tribes is very small. The same Amendment also extended the above provision to the newly formed states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Usually, the members of the state legislature, either the legislative assembly or the legislative council, are appointed as ministers.
A person who is not a member of either House of the state legislature can also be appointed as a minister. But, within six months, he must become a member (either by election or by nomination) of either House of the state legislature, otherwise, he ceases to be a minister. A minister who is a member of one House of the state legislature has the right to speak and to take part in the proceedings of the other House. But, he can vote only in the House of which he is a member.
OATH AND SALARY OF MINISTERS
Before a minister enters upon his office, the governor administers to him the oaths of office and secrecy. In his oath of office, the minister swears:

1.    to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India,

2.    to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India,

3.    to faithfully and conscientiously discharge the duties of his office, and

4.    to do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
In his oath of secrecy, the minister swears that he will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person(s) any matter that is brought under his consideration or becomes known to him as a state minister except as may be required for the due discharge of his duties as such minister.
The salaries and allowances of ministers are determined by the state legislature from time to time. A minister gets the salary and allowances which are payable to a member of the state legislature. Additionally, he gets a sumptuary allowance (according to his rank), free accommodation, travelling allowance, medical facilities, etc.
RESPONSIBILITY OF MINISTERS
Collective Responsibility
The fundamental principle underlying the working of parliamentary system of government is the principle of collective responsibility. Article 164 clearly states that the council of ministers is collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of the state. This means that all the ministers own joint responsibility to the legislative assembly for all their acts of omission and commission. They work as a team and swim or sink together. When the legislative assembly passes a no-confidence motion against the council of ministers, all the ministers have to resign including those ministers who are from the legislative council. Alternatively, the council of ministers can advice the governor to dissolve the legislative assembly on the ground that the House does not represent the views of the electorate faithfully and call for fresh elections. The governor may not oblige the council of ministers which has lost the confidence of the legislative assembly. The principle of collective responsibility also mean that the cabinet decisions bind all cabinet ministers (and other ministers) even if they deferred in the cabinet meeting. It is the duty of every minister to stand by the cabinet decisions and support them both within and
outside the state legislature. If any minister disagrees with a cabinet decision and is not prepared to defend it, he must resign. Several ministers have resigned in the past owing to their differences with the cabinet.
Individual Responsibility
Article 164 also contains the principle of individual responsibility. It states that the ministers hold office during the pleasure of the governor. This means that the governor can remove a minister at a time when the council of ministers enjoys the confidence of the legislative assembly. But, the governor can remove a minister only on the advice of the chief minister. In case of difference of opinion or dissatisfaction with the performance of a minister, the chief minister can ask him to resign or advice the governor to dismiss him. By exercising this power, the chief minister can ensure the realisation of the rule of collective responsibility.
No Legal Responsibility
As at the Centre, there is no provision in the Constitution for the system of legal responsibility of the minister in the states. It is not required that an order of the governor for a public act should be countersigned by a minister. Moreover, the courts are barred from enquiring into the nature of advice rendered by the ministers to the governor.
COMPOSITION OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
The Constitution does not specify the size of the state council of ministers or the ranking of ministers. They are determined by the chief minister according to the exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation. Like at the Centre, in the states too, the council of ministers consists of three categories of ministers, namely, cabinet ministers, ministers of state, and deputy ministers. The difference between them lies in their respective ranks, emoluments, and political importance. At the top of all these ministers stands the chief minister–supreme governing authority in the state. The cabinet ministers head the important departments of the state government like home, education, finance, agriculture and so forth. They are members of the cabinet, attend its meetings and play an important role in deciding policies. Thus, their responsibilities extend over the entire gamut of state government. The ministers of state can either be given independent charge of departments or can be attached to cabinet ministers.
However, they are not members of the cabinet and do not attend the cabinet meetings unless specially invited when something related to their departments are considered by the cabinet. Next in rank are the deputy ministers. They are not given independent charge of departments. They are attached to the cabinet ministers and assist them in their administrative, political and parliamentary duties. They are not members of the cabinet and do not attend cabinet meetings. At times, the council of ministers may also include a deputy chief minister. The deputy chief ministers are appointed mostly for local political reasons.
CABINET
A smaller body called cabinet is the nucleus of the council of ministers. It consists of only the cabinet ministers. It is the real centre of authority in the state government. It performs the following role:

1.    It is the highest decision-making authority in the politico- administrative system of a state.

2.    It is the chief policy formulating body of the state government.

3.    It is the supreme executive authority of the state government.

4.    It is the chief coordinator of state administration.

5.    It is an advisory body to the governor.

6.    It is the chief crisis manager and thus deals with all emergency situations.

7.    It deals with all major legislative and financial matters.

8.    It exercises control over higher appointments like constitutional authorities and senior secretariat
administrators.
Cabinet Committees
The cabinet works through various committees called cabinet committees. They are of two types–standing and ad hoc. The former are of a permanent nature while the latter are of a temporary nature. They are set up by the chief minister according to the exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation. Hence, their number, nomenclature and composition varies from time to time. They not only sort out issues and formulate proposals for the consideration of the cabinet but also take decisions. However, the cabinet can review their decisions.
SUMMARY
The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary system of government in the states on the Union pattern, the council of ministers headed by the chief minister is the real executive authority in the politico-administrative system of a state. The council of ministers in the states is constituted and function in the same way as the council of ministers at the Centre. The principles of parliamentary system of government are not detailed in the Constitution; but two Articles (163 and 164) deal with them in a broad, sketchy and general manner. Article 163 deals with the status of the council of ministers while Article 164 deals with the appointment, tenure, responsibility, qualifications, oath and salaries and allowances of the ministers.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE

•    RESPONSIBILITY OF MINISTERS

•    OATH AND SALARY OF MINISTERS

•    CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
GLOSSARY
CABINET: A smaller body called cabinet is the nucleus of the council of ministers. It consists of only the cabinet ministers. It is the real centre of authority in the state government.
Collective Responsibility: The fundamental principle underlying the working of parliamentary system of government is the principle of collective responsibility. Article 164 clearly states that the council of ministers is collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of the state
ANSWER TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE

(a)    5.2,5.5,

(b)    5.6.
SUGGESTED READING

•    Volume VII, P.35-38. 7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
TERMINAL QUESTIONS

•    Analysis of constitutional provisions of state council of minister ?

Chapter 6
State secretariat, chief secretary, state directorate
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Meaning of Secretariat
Position and Role of State Secretariat
.Structure of a Typical Secretariat department
Pattern of Departmentalisation in State Secretariat
Distinction between Secretariat Department and Executive Department : Discrete Processes or a Continuum

- Chief Secretary
summary
self-check Exercises
Glossary
Suggested Readings
Answers to self-check Exercises
Terminal Questions
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

•    After studying this Unit you should be ‘able to Understand the meaning, significance and ‘role of the State Secretariat;

•    Explain the vertical structure of a typical secretariat department and the pattern of departmentalisation in the State Secretariat;

•    Bring out the distinction between the secretariat department and the head of - the executive department as well as their mutual relationship;

•    Define the terms 'policy' and administration and explain if they are discrete processes or a continuum;

•    and Discuss the significance and role of the Chief Secretary in the State Secretariat system.

•    It functions as the advisory expert committee to the state. It facilitates internal harmony among the various departments. It consolidates the various policies and programs of the government. It advises the minister in formulating the draft of the bills. It supports the formulation of rules and regulations.
Introduction
The functioning of the government is made effective with the help of task oriented Ministries. No Ministry can run smoothly without the support ‘of a Secretariat at the Union as well as state levels.
The Secretariat helps the government in policy making and execution of legislative functions. This Unit discusses the organisation and functions ,of the State secretariat. It explains the pattern of departmentalisation in the Secretariat and brings out the distinction between the secretariat department and executive department. In addition, position and functions of the Chief Secretary in the state administration are also discussed.
MEANING OF SECRETARIAT
The three components of government at the state level are: (i) the minister; (ii) the secretary, and (iii) the executive head. (The last one in most cases is called the director, although other nomenclatures are also used to refer to the executive head). The minister and the secretary together constitute the Secretariat, whereas the office of the executive head is designated as the Directorate. Literally, the term 'Secretariat' means the secretary's office. It originated at a time when what we had in India was really a government run by the secretaries.
POSITION AND ROLE OF STATE SECRETARIAT
The following extract from the Administrative Reforms Commission's Report on State Administration gives a succinct expression to the position and role of the State Secretariat: The State Secretariat, as the top layer of the state administration, is primarily meant to assist the state government in policy making and in discharging its legislative functions. It also acts "as a memory and a clearing house, preparatory to certain types of decisions and as a general supervisor of executive action". The main functions of the State Secretariat are broadly as follows:

i)      Assisting the ministers in policy making, in modifying policies from time to time
and in discharging their legislative responsibilities

ii)     Framing draft legislation, and rules and regulations

iii)    Coordinating policies and programmes, supervising and controlling their execution, and reviewing of the results

iv)    Budgeting and control of expenditure

v)     Maintaining contact with the Government of India and other state governments; and

vi)    Overseeing the smooth and efficient running of the administrative machinery and-
initiating measures to develop greater personnel and organisational competence.
The administrative philosophy to which the secretariat system owes its existence is that policy making must be kept separate from policy execution. Several advantages are claimed in favour of such an arrangement:

i)     Freedom from operational involvement makes the policy making apparatus
forward looking and allows it to think in terms of overall goals of government rather than narrow, sectional interests of individual departments.

ii)     Policy making receives the time and attention it deserves, if different set of
persons are charged with the functions of policy making as well as its execution. This is because, policy making, is a serious exercise in drawing up what would be a future course of action. It should not be treated as less urgent than policy execution, which involves routine, day- to-day administration.

iii)    Secretariat serves as a disinterested adviser to the minister. It is important to remember that the secretary is the secretary to the government and not to the minister concerned, which ensures objective examination of the proposals coming from the executive departments. It enables a more balanced scrutiny of proposals.

iv)    Policy making must be separated from current administration and day-to-day
implementation should be left to a different agency with executive freedom, which ensures delegation of authority.
STRUCTURE OF A TYPICAL SECRETARIAT DEPARTMENT
Vertically, a typical Secretariat Department has two hierarchical formations; that of the officers and, what is described as the office.
Officers
Conventionally, the officers' hierarchy has had three levels. Under this, a typical administrative department is headed by a secretary who will have a complement of deputy secretaries and under assistant secretaries. But with growth in the functions of various secretariat departments, the number of levels in the officers' hierarchy has been on the increase. As a result, between the secretary and the deputy secretary, in some states, positions of additional and/or joint secretaries have also been created.
Office
A unique feature of the Secretariat System in India has been the distinction between its two component parts - "the transitory cadre of a few superior officers" and "the permanent office". The officers in each department, because they hold tenure posts, come and go. It is the office, which is manned by permanent functionaries, which provides the much needed element of continuity to the secretariat department. Unlike officers, the office constitutes the permanent element in the secretariat system. The office component is comprised of superintendents (or section officers), assistants, upper and lower division clerks, stenotypists and typists. Office performs the spadework on the basis of which the officers consider cases and make decisions. Office supplies officers with materials, which constitute the basis for decision-making.
The structure of a typical department comprises:
| Department | Secretary |
|---|---|
| Wing | Additional / Joint Secretary |
| Division | Deputy Secretary |
| Director Branch | Under Secretary |
| Section | Section Officer |


The section is the lowest organisational unit and it is under the charge of a section officer. Other functionaries in a section are assistants, upper and lower division clerks, steno-typists, typists, etc. A section is referred to as the office.
PATTERN OF DEPARTMENTALISATION IN STATE SECRETARIAT
Each secretary is normally in charge of more than one department. The number of secretariat departments would therefore be larger than the number of secretaries. The number of secretariat departments, quite naturally, varies from state to state. Their number broadly ranges between 10 and 40 in different states. The number of departments in a particular state is not necessarily related to its size in terms of population.
Following is a typical example of the pattern of departmentalisation at the Secretariat Level:
General Administration Department
Home Department
Revenue Department
Food and Agriculture Department
Finance and Planning Department (Planning Wing)
Finance and Planning Department (Finance Wing)
Law Department
irrigation and Power Department
Medical and Health Department
Education Department
Industries Department
Panchayati Raj Department
Command Area Development Department
Transport, Roads and Buildings Department
Housing and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department
Labour, Employment and Technical Education Department
Social Welfare Department Rural Development Department
Forest Department
Environment Department
Women and Child Welfare Department
Larger number of departments, in particular states, would result from restricting the scope of the functions and charges of those which may be created. Partly, such - increase in the number of departments may arise from the peculiar 'problems a particular state may face.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN SECRETARIAT DEPARTMENT AND EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT: DISCRETE PROCESSES OR A CONTINUUM
State Secretariat: Organisation and Functions The Secretariat Department must be distinguished from the executive department. The Secretariat has the function of aiding, assisting and advising the political executive in arriving at policy choices.
main known as director (although other nomenclature is also used to refer to them) - have their responsibility of implementing policies formulated by the political executive. Therefore, the secretaries assist in policy formulation whereas the directors' role lies in executing policy. Long ago, the Simon Commission had observed, that executive department is an administrative unit separate from the Secretariat, which reaches its apex, usually, in a single officer like the Inspector General of Police, or the Chief Conservator of Forests, outside the Secretariat altogether. Such a head of a department will usually be concerned principally with a single secretary to Government and a single . .. minister of his orders and the funds which he has to spend.' Each secretariat department is in charge of a number of executive departments. This number varies over a wide range with some departments taking charge of a . much larger number of executive heads than others. There is an average of 6 to 7 executive departments in relation to one secretariat department. However, it must be carefully noted that not all secretariat departments have executive departments attached to them. Some of the secretariat departments are engaged in advisory and controlling functions and therefore do not have executive departments reporting to them. Examples are Departments of Law, Finance, etc.
The Secretariat and executive departments organisationally express the policy formulation and policy execution processes involved in the functioning of the government; the two may be looked upon as extensions of the personality of the Council of Ministers. The former is a policy-making organ, the latter a policy executing organ. -- The secretariat department is normally headed by a generalist civil servant (drawn from the IAS), the executive department by a specialist. The specialist (the head of the executive department) function under the supervision of the generalist (the secretary or the head of
the secretariat department). This can be illustrated with some examples, Director of Agriculture, who is a specialist, in that he is trained in and holds a formal degree in agricultural sciences, would function under the supervision of the Secretary, Agriculture (a generalist, an IAS). The latter represents agriculture department at the secretariat level, whereas the Director of Agriculture represents agriculture department at the executive level. The director is the executive head of the agriculture department - the Directorate of Agriculture. Likewise, the home department in the Secretariat has the Director-general of Police as its executive head of the department. . Similar correlation obtains between education secretary and education director, industries secretary and industries director, social welfare secretary and social welfare director, and so on.
However, the complexities of governmental operations have increasingly required administrators to become involved in policy making or political decisions. As a result of this, it is in practice found to be difficult to draw a clear boundary separating policy and administration, or to say where policy ends and administration begins. This would be clear from the following:
Sources of Administrative Expertise
There are several sources from which the modem day administrators have obtained a kind of 'expertise', which the politicians need to use when formulating policies as: (i) The administrators stay in office longer 8hey are career civil servants) than the politicians, who come and go with elections, the former have opportunities of giving sustained attention to problems. From this, they gain an invaluable kind of practical knowledge that comes from the experience of handling these very problems day in and day out. This knowledge is conserved in records and transmitted to new generations of civil servants through training programmes. This monopoly of experience and practical knowledge coupled with continuity in office gives them a decisive edge over politicians in framing policies. (ii) The administrators are in possession of facts, figures, information and intelligence regarding the specific areas in which policies are to be framed. Politicians would need these data and statistics in formulating policies. (iii) Administrative expertise also comes pre-eminently from the fact that the governments of today employ a large variety of professionals (doctors, engineers, scientists, economists, etc.). The) possess technical knowledge, which forms a vital ,input in policy making. (iv) The advent of merit system has also helped to build up administrative expertise by attracting better talent in civil service and loosening the grip of politicians on civil service.
Administrators' Role in Policy Making
The increase in civil service expertise, together with growth in the functions of government and growing complexity of administration, has resulted in an increasing dependence of politicians on administrators in the task of policy making. This is reflected in the following:

i)      Policy making exercise is done on the basis of facts, figures, information and
data, which are supplied by the bureaucracy. In other words, politicians, in order to enhance the credibility of the policies they he, depend on the administrators' data support to their policies.

ii)     Civil servants based on their long administrative experience, tender advice to the
lay politicians on the administrative, technical and financial feasibility of the various policy options under consideration.

iii)     Administrators formulate' policy through the exercise of administrative discretion.
When an administrator is required to choose between alternative courses of action within a policy frame, he is said to exercise discretion. In this sense, administrators are described 8 supplementary lawmakers. Because here, the
actual content of policy becomes entirely a
matter for bureaucratic determination. Here administrators actually decide how the power of the State shall be used in specific cases. In modern times, there has come about a tremendous increase in administrative discretion by virtue of an incessant increase in the volume of legislation to be enacted. Legislature is under the circumstances, compelled to confine itself to indicating broad framework of law, leaving details to be filled up by the administrative agencies.
The growing variety and complexity of laws to be enacted has further circumscribed the Legislature's competence. The legislators do not have the technical know-how and training to venture into the details of particular legislations. This further necessitates exercise of administrative discretion. And, at any rate, if the Legislature delves into the details of each law, this would be at the cost of other important duties and functions of the legislators and therefore an undesirable thing to happen. This, coupled with the assurance that it has the necessary means available to hold administration accountable to itself has, in fact, encouraged the Legislature in its attitude of not delving too deeply into the details of the enactments it formulates. And, it is not possible to work out the details of the enactments for another reason too. Ultimately, the policy is to be executed in the field where an administrator must necessarily face a bewildering variety of situations as he sets himself to the task of policy execution. For the law making agency, it is clearly not possible to visualise, at the point of legislation, the different variety of situations that may arise in the field. For this reason, once again, the policy makers must do no more than provide only broad guidelines in the legislations they frame.
CHIEF SECRETARY
Position of Chief Secretary
Every state has a Chief Secretary. This functionary is the kingpin of the State Secretariat, his control extending to all secretariat departments. He is not simply first among equals, he is, in fact, the chief of the secretaries. The Chief Secretary's pre-eminent position is clearly reflected in the varied roles he or she assumes in the state administrative set-up. The Chief Secretary is the chief advisor to the Chief Minister and Secretary to the State Cabinet. He is the head of the General Administration Department whose political head is the Chief Minister himself. Chief Secretary is also the head of the civil services in the state. He is the main channel of communication between the state government and the Central and other state governments.
Chief Secretary is the chief spokesman and public relations officer of the state government and is looked upon to provide leadership to the state's administrative system. The office of the Chief Secretary is an institution unique to the states; it is without a parallel in the administrative landscape of the entire country. The Chief Secretary's office has, for instance, no parallel in the Central government. The work he performs in relation to the state government is, at the Union level, shared by three high-ranking functionaries of more or less an equal status, i.e., Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, and Finance Secretary, This is a vivid reflection on the wide scope of the duties and powers of the Chief Secretary.
Yet another significant reflection on the position of the Chief Secretary's office is the fact that it has been excluded from the operation of the tenure system. Chief Secretary would normally retire as the Chief Secretary or else he would, from this position, move to the Union government to take up a more important position.
Since 1973, however, the office of the Chief Secretary has been standardised; it’s incumbent since then has begun to hold the rank of the Secretary to Government of India and receives emoluments
admissible to the latter. How does the clamping. of the Presidents' rule on a state affect the Chief Secretary's Office Where the Centre does not appoint advisers during the President's rule, the Chief Secretary becomes clothed with the 6Ger.s belonging to the Chief Minister. When, however, central advisers are appointed, it tends to inhibit the Chief Secretary in his administrative capacity because the former are drawn from the ranks of senior civil servants (senior to the state's Chief Secretary) as a result of which a hierarchical relationship becomes operative.
Chief Secretary's Functions
The principal functions of the Chief Secretary are listed below:

•    He is the principal adviser to the Chief Minister in which capacity he, inter "alia, works out the detailed administrative implications of the proposals made by ministers and coordinates them into a cohesive plan of action.

•    The Chief Secretary is the secretary to the Cabinet. He prepares the agenda for Cabinet meetings, arranges them, maintains records of these meetings, ensures follow-up action on Cabinet decisions, and provides assistance to Cabinet committees.

•    The Chief Secretary is the head of the civil services of the state. In that capacity, he decides on the postings and transfers of civil servants. By virtue of the unique position, he holds as the head of the official machinery and adviser to the Council of Ministers, the Chief Secretary is the coordinator-in-chief of the Secretariat departments.

•    He takes steps to secure inter-departmental cooperation and coordination. For this purpose, he convenes and attends a large number of meetings at the Secretariat and other levels. Meetings serve as a powerful tool of effecting coordination and securing cooperation of different agencies.

•    As the chief of the secretaries, the Chief Secretary also presides over a large number of committees and holds membership of many others. Besides, he looks after all matters not falling within the jurisdiction of other secretaries. In this sense, the Chief Secretary is a residual legatee.

•    The Chief Secretary is the secretary, by rotation, of the Zonal Council of which the particular state is a member. He exercises 'administrative control over the secretarial buildings, including matters connected with space allocation.

•    He also controls the Central Record Branch, the secretariat library, and the conservancy and watch and ward staff. The Chief Secretary also controls the staff attached to the ministers.

•    In situations of crisis, Chief Secretary acts as the nerve centre of the state, providing lead and guidance to the concerned agencies in order to expedite relief operations. It would be no exaggeration to say that in times of drought, flood, communal disturbances, etc., he virtually represents the government for all the functionaries and agencies concerned to provide relief.
SUMMARY
The term Secretariat refers to the complex of departments, which at political level, are headed by ministers and, at an administrative level, by secretaries. Secretaries assist ministers in the task of policy formulation and in their legislative duties. Organisationally and functionally, the heads of the executive departments constitute separate and distinct administrative units, which are hierarchically subordinate to the secretariat departments. In most cases, executive departments are designated as Directorates because their heads are, in most cases known as directors. Directorates execute policy. Each secretariat department
is usually in charge of a number of Directorates. Policy and administration,
though conceptually distinct categories, are at a practical plane, inextricably interlinked. They form a continuum; it is difficult to say where the policy ends and administration begins. This is because the administrators work as supplementary policy makers, and have, besides, a large policy making role to perform. The Chief Secretary, as the head of the administrative setup of the state, performs important leadership and coordination functions. This functionary is the nerve centre of the State Secretariat. This Unit has thrown light on all these aspects of state administration.
self-check Exercises

•    CHIEF SECRETARY

•    STRUCTURE OF A TYPICAL SECRETARIAT DEPARTMENT

•    STATE SECRETARIAT
KEY WORDS

•    Chief Secretary’s a residual legatee : The matters which do not fall within the jurisdiction Residual Legatee of other secretaries are passed on to the chief secretary

•    Inter alia : Among other things.

•    The Department : Literally, the word department means a part or portion of a larger whole. Sometimes, it is used to denote parts of things other than the administrative structure. However, in the present context, the term department refers to the biggest blocks or compartments, immediately below the Chief Executive, into which the entire work of government is divided. It is thus the highest and the biggest organisational formation below the Chief Executive
Suggesting readings

•    Avasthi, A., 1980, Central Administration; McGraw Hill, New Delhi

•  Maheshwari, S.R., 1995, Indian Administration; Orient Longman, Delhi

•  Maheshwari, S.R., 1979, State Governments in India; Macmillan, Delhi
ANSWERS TO SELF- CHECK EXERCISES
(a)6.2,6.4

(b) 6.7
TERMINAL QUESTIONS

• Role and functions of chief Secretary

Chapter 7
District Government, Aspirational District Programme and Role of Deputy Commissioner
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
The Institution of District Collector / Deputy Commissioner
Aspirational District Programme
Deputy-Commissioner
District Development and Panchayat Officer
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Introduction
Historically the district, in some form or the other has been the most important unit of administration in the Indian sub-continent. The evolution of district administration in Mughal times and those of the East India Company has to be understood in light of the fact that neither had a legislative wing. Executive commands originated from the Emperor or the Governor General, or from the provincial governors, and were executed by the sub-provincial authorities, howsoever designated.
The British Parliament was the first legislature in respect of India in modern times and enactments created and gave substance to the district head of administration, known variously as the Collector (in respect of revenue administration), the District Magistrate (in respect of
administration of criminal justice) or the Deputy Commissioner (in respect of General Administration and special functions / powers under local tenancy laws.
Until the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution, the governance structure of India was two-tiered comprising the Union Government and the State Governments. At the district level, apart from discharging the responsibilities cast by specific enactments, the Collectors performed such administrative tasks as were assigned to them by the State governments. After Independence, the single greatest accretion to the responsibilities of the district administrator came through expansion of rural development programmes. As the number of activities, institutions and departments involved in rural development increased, the coordinating and synthesizing role of the Collector in the development efforts of the government assumed greater importance.
With the constitutionally mandated establishment of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Municipal bodies, it has become necessary to re-examine and re-define the role of the district administration. It is imperative that the devolution of decision making to local levels should face no impediments. It is equally imperative that the unique administrative experience, expertise and credibility of the office of the District Collector built up over a period of two hundred years is properly utilized.
The linkages and relationship between the State government and the District Collector cannot be examined in isolation from the linkages existing between the district offices and local bodies. There is a high degree of complementarity between them. This Chapter, examines their functioning and tries to suggest an environment for a responsive and citizen friendly district administration in line with the principles of decentralization and subsidiarity.
The overall administrative structure presently prevailing at the district and sub-district levels in the country consists of the following three components.

(A)    Administration of regulatory functions under the leadership of the Collector and District Magistrate, such as law and order, land revenue / reforms, excise, registration, treasury, civil supplies and social welfare. This domain also includes oversight over primary departments of the government e.g., agriculture, animal husbandry, and primary and school education.

(B)    District / sub-district level offices of the line departments of the State Government and their agencies, such as PWD, irrigation, health, industries etc. which have had stronger accountability relationship with the State headquarters rather than with the District Collector.

(C)    Local bodies (Panchayati Raj Institutions and Municipal bodies) which, after the 73rd and 74th amendment of the Constitution, have become the third tier of government and are to be empowered to handle subjects pertaining to development of the local areas as illustratively listed in the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution.
The Institution of District Collector / Deputy Commissioner
Till some years ago, in most of the States, the District Collector was the head of the government at the district level, responsible for a diverse portfolio of functions ranging from delivery of essential services, land revenue administration, execution of rural development programmes, disaster management, maintenance of law and order and collection of excise and transport revenue. As such, virtually all the instruments of the State Government that operated at the local levels did so in conjunction with the Collector’s office either formally or informally. In this regard, structurally diverse arrangements were built up over time. The relationships and reporting structures range from the Collectors undertaking broad oversight/ supervision of the activities undertaken by line departments- to specific day-to-day management of some services. For many State Government bodies, the Collector had an important role in determining how, where and what quantity of their services were to be delivered. In recent years, however, the departments have tended to function increasingly as vertical silos up to the State level and, as stated above, the gradual empowerment of local governments is changing the role played by the District Collector in matters of local development.
Evolution and Change
Till the 1960s, when programmes of rural development were at a nascent stage, the Collector’s job seemed to be carefully organized with land reforms, revenue collection, law and order, food and civil supplies, welfare and relief/rehabilitation being the principal areas of his responsibility. The needs of the people were limited, their interaction with the government was infrequent and the bureaucratic set up seemed to be dedicated. Under these circumstances, the office of the Collector was a strong and effective institution.
In the years that followed, a large number of new projects/schemes were initiated by various departments of the Government, with the Collector as the notional head of the District Monitoring Committee. Apart from making a formal review in monthly/quarterly coordination meetings, the Collector had a somewhat limited role in such matters. Towards the beginning of the 1980s, the development of rural areas got a further thrust and the government initiated a large number of Centrally Sponsored/State sector schemes in agriculture, rural development,
primary education and healthcare. Though, separate instruments were created for their execution, the Collector, in most of the cases, was given the overall supervisory charge of the programmes in the districts. The Collector and his administration were expected to be omniscient and omnipotent; capable of providing solutions to all the problems.
But after the introduction of the Panchayati Raj system in the country (post 1993), most of the development functions have been taken away from the Collector’s domain, although the State Governments feel it convenient to use this institution to exercise control over the PRIs. 3.2.3 Need for a Collector in the District
The post of District Collector has been the most important feature of field administration in India for the last two hundred years. Before Independence, when the economy was primarily agrarian, the Collector as head of the land revenue administration also enjoying wide powers under criminal laws, was considered the ultimate guardian figure - responsible for the wellbeing of residents in his jurisdiction - the representative of the British Empire, capable of doing anything and everything. In the post - Independence era, when the economy diversified, and the pace of industrialization and growth of tertiary activities picked up, other functionaries too gained in importance. But, even now, in most parts of the country, excepting metropolitan/ mega cities, the Collector is the most recognized face of the administration; he is considered to be the principal representative of the government at the district level, who could be approached to solve virtually all problems ranging from land disputes, to scarcity of essential commodities, to inadequacy of relief in times of crisis, to community disputes and even to issues of family.
Redefining the Collector’s Role:
A Wide Mandate
At present the portfolio of the Collector’s office generally includes the following functions and activities (though there may be variations across the States):-

•    acting as the Head of Land and Revenue Administration, including responsibility for District Finance (expenditure and audit);

•    acting as the District Head of the Executive Magistracy and overall supervision of law and order and security and some say in the police matters;

•    as Licensing and Regulatory Authority in respect of the various special laws such as Arms, Explosive and Cinematography Acts etc. in the District;

•    conduct of elections – for Parliament, State Legislature and Local Bodies;

•    as the Officer-in-charge of Disaster Management;

•    as the guardian of public lands with the responsibility to prevent and remove encroachments which are often a source of tension between vested interests and the district administration;

•    public service delivery, either by facilitating or directly delivering services assigned to the district administration from other departments. (In this respect, the Collector often acts as Chairman of the Board for Parastatals, or as Chairman or Member of various standing and inter-departmental committees);

•    facilitation of interaction between civil society and the State Government;

•    handling issues of local cadre management such as recruitment, in-service training and promotion; and

•    as the Chief Information and Grievance Redressal Officer of the district.
The District Collector/Magistrate has specific powers entrusted to him under several Union and State enactments. These statutory powers have to be exercised with care and responsibility. The Commission noted that some Collectors were not even aware of all the laws under which they are empowered.
The Collector is also the Chairman of a large number of Committees at the district level. A list of the Committees chaired by the District Collector in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh was obtained from the Collector.
Such widespread functions without well-defined roles result in lack of clarity and diffusion of the Collector’s responsibilities. Also, after the establishment of PRIs / ULBs as the third tier of government, there is no need to assign any role/function to the Collector in respect of activities which are transferred by the State Government to these bodies. As such, the Commission is of the view that there is need to redefine the role and responsibilities of the Collector in a clear manner. His job profile should consist of (a) a well-defined set of exclusive activities both statutory as well as non-statutory as a functionary of the State Government (b) the general work of coordination with various departments / agencies of the State and the Union Governments at the district level and (c) in the interim period till the time the local elected Institutions mature into District Government – as the Chief Executive Officer of the proposed District Council.
Land and Revenue Administration
The land revenue administration in a State operates at four administrative levels – district, subdivision, tehsil/taluka/block and village. The Collector/Deputy Commissioner is the head of the revenue administration at the district level and is the custodian of government land and properties under his jurisdiction. He is assisted by the Additional Collector(s) and other officers of the State Civil Service. The revenue work at the Collectorate is divided into various Sections headed by a Superintendent who in turn, is assisted by ministerial staff.
Each district comprises of revenue sub-divisions. The sub-divisional level revenue offices are supervised by Deputy Collectors/Extra Asst Commissioners who are designated as subdivisional officers under whom other subordinates such as officials in charge of revenue circles work. Sub-Divisional level officers of various departments such as Food and Civil Supplies, Excise, Social Welfare etc. work as branch officers of their district establishments.
Within each (sub) division, there exist a number of blocks/talukas/tehsils. The tehsil/ block level revenue offices are headed by Tehsildars/Cos . It is at this level that there is a direct interface of the government with the public and the image of the Revenue Administration largely depends on the efficient and effective functioning of these officials. At the village level, the States usually, have a designated revenue official called Patwari/Revenue Karamchari. In some States, the Executive Officer of the Gram Panchayat.
Disaster Management
Disasters both natural as well as man-made such as floods, drought, forest fires, earthquakes, factory fires, major accidents, environmental mishaps and riots etc., pose a big threat to the lives and properties of the people in the districts . Some districts are more prone to specific types of disasters than others and hence they require measures for continuous vigilance monitoring and prevention. The Collector is the Chairman of the District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC), which is responsible for making advance, plans to mitigate the effect of calamities and for providing both immediate as well as long term assistance to the affected people. The assistance may be in terms of rescue, immediate shelter, availability of food and emergent healthcare. The Collector is authorized by the government to grant gratuitous relief to the affected families and to take such measures as are necessary to reduce hardships caused by the disaster.
Civil supplies, Public distribution and Social Welfare

3.2.4.6.1    The Collector oversees the arrangements for provision of essential commodities to citizens through the Public Distribution System (PDS) . The PDS operates through a chain of fair price shops that issue rationed quantities of wheat, rice, sugar, kerosene, etc. at subsidized rates to various categories of less privileged people through ration cards . The District Food and Supply Officer controls and supervises the activities of these shops under overall superintendence of the Collector. This department has the responsibility to ensure that basic commodities such as foodgrains, sugar, oil, coal, etc. remain available to the people at the reasonable prices in the district . It has powers to penalize the hoarders of essential commodities, take steps to deal with adulteration in diesel/petrol/other commodities and to ensure proper usage of weights and measures etc.
Excise, Transport, Mining, Labour Laws, Elections and Legal Affairs
The Collector provides substantial contribution to the State budget through excise and transport revenue . He is the controlling officers for subordinate formations of these two departments in the district . For excise functions, he is assisted by Assistant/Deputy Excise Commissioners/Superintendent and Excise Inspectors whereas the District Transport Officer, one or two Motor Vehicle Inspectors and Enforcement Officers help him in collection of transport revenue.
The Collector is the Chief Mining officer of the district and exercises powers to grant prospecting license and mining lease under provisions of the Mines and Minerals (development and regulation) Act, 1957).
Exercising Functions and Powers under various Union and State Laws
The Collector exercises several functions and powers under a large number of Union and State Laws on a diverse range of subjects such as those dealing with Land Acquisition, Tenancy of Land, Abolition of Debt Bondage, Money Lending, manufacture and sale of liquor and opium, settlement in Forests, distribution of essential commodities, Arms & Explosives, encroachment on government land, granting license for minor minerals, conduct of Exams, recovery of Public Demands, grant of Homestead, Workmen Compensation and regulation of Sarais and Inns.
Coordination with line departments/other agencies of the State/Union Government
Coordination among various departments of the State Governments is one of the major activities of the District Collector. Most of the State Governments give due regard to the views of the Collector whenever there is need for inter-departmental interaction at the field level.
Even other agencies look to him for guidance and support for effective implementation of their programmes and activities.
As Chief Officer of the Proposed District Government
As per recommendations made earlier, each district would ultimately need to have a District Council comprising of representatives of both rural and urban bodies. The District Collector would function as the Chief Officer of this Council. The District Collector-cum Chief Officer would have dual responsibility and would be fully accountable to the elected District Government on all local matters, and to the State Government on all regulatory matters not delegated to the District Government.
The Commission believes that the functions described in the above categories are of critical importance to the effective functioning of the government at the field level and the workload involved in the domain of these activities demands considerable time and attention of the District Collector and his direct subordinates. The State Government should ensure that the responsibility of the District Collector is neither diluted nor diverted from these activities.
Implementation of Right to Information Act at the District Level
The Right to Information Act, 2005 is a landmark legislation which is increasingly being viewed as an important tool for empowerment of the poor and the weak. Availability of information to the general public and clarity about functioning of governmental institutions are essential components of good governance. This Act promotes transparency, accountability, predictability and participation. A whole set of institutions has been created at the national as well as at the state level to ensure that organizations of the government comply with the provisions of the Act and enhance citizen centricity in governance. It is now more than three years since the law was enacted. There is a common perception that the impact of this legislation has not percolated in a significant way beyond the State capital. The Commission feels that the functioning of the lower level officials of the State and District Administration should be much more responsive and proactive to the needs and concerns of the citizen. There is need to strengthen the compliance machinery at the district level to enforce provisions of the RTI Act and to reduce the element of delay and subjectivity in the functioning of the lower level formations of the government. This could be done by creating a special RTI Cell in the office of the Collector, whose functions could be reviewed by the Collector himself at regular periodicity.
Experienced Officers as District Collectors
Currently in many States, IAS officers are posted as Collectors/District Magistrates soon after they get their senior scale i.e., on completion of about four years of service. Since the duration of the institutional training for All India Service officers itself is of two years, his entire repertoire of public administration consists of two years of work either in the field as Sub Divisional Magistrate or as an Under Secretary in the State Secretariat, when he, is catapulted to this post of immense responsibility.
A Collector/District Magistrate functions as the representative of the government at the district level and coordinates the activities of officers of other departments of the State Government, many of whom would have put in significantly larger number of years in the government service. Increased political consciousness, high expectations of the public and the complex requirements of modern day administration demand that officers should have, apart from ability, experience both in the field and Secretariat and the maturity to work in this important assignment. In other words the experience of officers posted should be commensurate with the problems and complexities of the district and to that extent there is a strong case for posting officers of sufficient seniority as Collector/District Magistrate particularly in districts with large populations and a history of administrative complexities.
The Commission is, therefore, of the view that while officers could usually, be posted as Collectors/District Magistrates in their early career, in complex and problem-prone districts, an IAS officer should be posted as Collector/District Magistrate only on completion of 10-12 years of service.
Aspirational District Programme
Launched by the Hon’ble PM in January 2018, the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) aims to quickly and effectively transform 112 most under-developed districts across the country. The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level Nodal Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts through monthly delta ranking; all driven by a mass movement.
With States as the main drivers, this program focuses on the strength of each district, identifying low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement and measuring progress by ranking districts on a monthly basis. The ranking is based on the incremental progress made across 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under 5 broad socio-economic themes - Health & Nutrition,
Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development and Infrastructure. The delta-ranking of Aspirational Districts and the performance of all districts is available on the Champions of Change Dashboard.
The Government is committed to raising the living standards of its citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all – “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas”. To enable utilization of their potential, this program closely focuses on improving people’s ability to participate fully in the burgeoning economy. Districts are prodded and encouraged to first catch up with the best district within their state, and subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country, by competing with, and learning from others in the spirit of competitive & cooperative federalism.
NITI Aayog works closely with the respective line Ministries and various development partners to fast-track progress at the district level. The districts are also encouraged to develop and replicate best practices that drive improvement across the socio-economic themes. The Aspirational Districts Programme essentially is aimed at localizing Sustainable Development Goals, leading to the progress of the nation.
Deputy-Commissioner
The general administration of the district is vested with the Deputy Commissioner, who for administrative purposes, is under the Divisional Commissioner, Hisar. He is at once the Deputy Commissioner, the District Magistrate and the Collector. As Deputy Commissioner, he is the executive head of the district with multifarious responsibilities relating to development, panchayats, local bodies, civil administration, etc. As District Magistrate, he is responsible for law and order and heads the police and prosecuting agency. As Collector, he is the chief Officer of the revenue administration and is responsible for the collection of land revenue, and is also the highest revenue judicial authority in the district. He acts as the district Elections Officer and the Registrar for registration work. He exercises over-all supervision on other government agencies in his district. He is, in short, the head of the district administration, a coordinating officer among various departments and a connecting link between the public and the government so far as he executes the policies, administers the rules and regulations framed by the government from time to time .
The main functions of the Deputy Commissioner may be broadly categorised as co-ordination of development and public welfare activities as Deputy Commissioner, revenue officer/Court of the district as District Collector, and law and order functions as District Magistrate. Thus, he acts as Deputy Commissioner, District Collector and District Magistrate on different occasions. His role in each of these capacities is described, in brief, as under:
As-Deputy-Commissioner
He is the executive of the district with numerous responsibilities in the sphere of civil administration, development, panchayats, local bodies, etc. Due to the immense importance of his office, the Deputy Commissioner is considered to be the measuring rod of efficiency in administration. The Deputy Commissioner has an Office Superintendent under him, to supervise the work of the clerical staff. He guides functioning of different branches of his office. Each branch is headed by an Assistant and is functionally known after him. For example, the branch looked after by Establishment Assistant (EA) is known as the EA Branch, the one under Miscellaneous Assistant is known as the MA Branch, etc. etc. An Assistant has to perform two types of functions-supervisory and dispositive i.e. he has to supervise the work of the officials working under him, and also to dispose of many cases either at his level or by putting them up to his senior officers. An Assistant has one or more Clerks under him. The number of branches in the office of the Deputy Commissioner differs from district to district depending upon the requirements in each case, but more important branches existing in almost all the districts are, Establishment Branch, Nazarat Branch, Sadr Kanungo Branch, Development Branch, Miscellaneous Branch, Licensing Branch, Complaints and Enquiries Branch, Local Funds Branch, District Revenue Accounts Branch, Flood Relief Branch, Revenue Records Branch, Records and Issue Branch, Sadr Copying Agency, Registration Branch, Peshi Branch, etc
As-District-Collector
The Deputy Commissioner is the highest Officer of revenue administration in the district. In revenue matters, he is responsible to the Government through the Divisional Commissioner and the Financial Commissioner, Revenue. He is responsible for the collection of land revenue, other kinds of Government taxes, fees and all dues recoverable as arrears of land revenue. He is responsible for ensuring the maintenance of accurate and up-to-date records of rights as regards the land. He is also the appointing authority for Patwaris and Kanungos and ministerial staff posted in the tahsil offices, and in the offices of Sub Divisional Officers (Civil) and Deputy Commissioner except in the case of Superintendent of Deputy Commissioner’s Office and for
most of the subordinate revenue staff in the district. As the District Collector, he is the highest revenue judicial authority in the district.
As-District-Magistrate
The Deputy Commissioner is responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the district. He is the head of criminal administration and supervises all Executive Magistrates in the district and controls and directs the actions of the police. He has supervisory powers over the administration of jails and lock-ups in the district. Besides his above mentioned duties as Deputy Commissioner, District Collector, and District Magistrate, he plays an important role as Deputy Custodian, under the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954. In this capacity his duties are: revision against the orders of Tahsildars and Officer-in-Charge, Rural, regarding allotment of land and houses in rural areas; revision against the orders of the District Rent Officer, regarding allotment of houses and shops in urban areas and disposal of cases received from the Assistant Custodian (Judicial) regarding evacuee property. The position of Deputy Commissioner as head of the district administration has become one of expanding responsibilities. As he is the executive head of the civil administration, all departments in the district, which otherwise have their own officers, look to him for guidance and co-ordinaticn. He plays an important role in the administration of municipal committees, market committees, panchayats, panchayat samiti, community development blocks and the zila parishad, which came into existence with the decentralisation of authority and expansion of the Panchayati Raj. He is also responsible for the execution of rural development schemes. Besides, he is responsible, as District Election Officer, for the peaceful and orderly conduct of all elections held in the district from time to time. For elections to Lok Sabha constituency/constituencies of his district, he functions as Returning Officer. He renders active help during decennial census. He controls and regulates the distribution of scarce essential commodities, etc. He keeps liaison with military authorities in his jurisdiction and is the Competent Authority for requisition of land for military purposes. In any matter of public importance which does not fall specifically in the sphere of any government department, State or Central, he, as a general administrator, is required to take cognisance of the matter in public interest and take it to its logical conclusion with the help of some Government department or by processing the matter in his own office. In short, there is nothing of importance which takes place in the district with which he is not associated, directly or indirectly.
Additional-Deputy-Commissioner
Additional Deputy Commissioner is the chief executive officer of DRDA The post of
Additional Deputy Commissioner has been created to assist the Deputy Commissioner in his day-to-day working. The Additional Deputy Commissioner enjoys the same powers as that of Deputy Commissioner under the rules.
SDM-SUB-DIVISIONAL-OFFICER
The Sub-divisional Officer(Civil) is the chief civil officer of the Sub-Division. In fact, he is a miniature Deputy Commissioner of his Sub-Division. He possesses adequate powers to coordinate work in the sub-division. He exercise direct control over the Tehsildars and their staff. He is competent to correspond directly with government and other departments on routine matters. His main duties, like those of the Deputy Commissioner, include revenue, executive and judicial work. In revenue matters, he is Assistant Collector Ist grade but the powers of Collector have been delegated to him under certain acts. The powers and responsibilities of the Sub Divisional Officer relating to revenue, magisterial, executive and development matters within his jurisdiction, are analogous to those of the Deputy Commissioner. His revenue duties include supervision and inspection of all matters from assessment to collection of land revenue; co-ordination of work of all officials in the subdivision, particularly in the departments of Revenue, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Public Health within the subdivision. His magisterial duties are: liaison and co-ordination with police in the subdivision; watch over the relations between various communities and classes; special precautions and actions in emergency, especially connected with festivals; and recommendations to the District Magistrate, when he is himself not competent, for grant of arms licences. He has ample powers under the Criminal Procedure Code, Punjab Police Rules, and other laws to exercise effective supervision over the law and order situation in his area. In his executive capacity, he can call for any of the records and registers which deal with crime, from a Police Station and can call the Station House Officer of Police Station to come to him to explain the matters. He can bind down anti-social elements for peaceful conduct over a period. He commands closer contact with the public and more intimate association with the local bodies and market committees. He also plays an important role in the rural development programmes. He needs co-operation and help from other Government officials in the subdivision for the smooth running of administration and successful implementation of development schemes. On important policy matters, however, he is required to route the matters through the Deputy Commissioner. For the elections to the Vidhan Sabha, he is generally appointed as Returning Officer for the constituency/ constituencies in his jurisdiction. For elections to the Lok Sabha constituencies , he is generally appointed as Assistant Returning Officer.
TEHSILDAR/NAIB-TEHSILDAR
The Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar, are the Key officer in the revenue administration and exercise powers of the Assistant Collector 2nd grade. While deciding partition cases; the Tehsildar assumes the powers of Assistant Collector 1st grade. Their main task being revenue collection, the Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar have to tour extensively in their areas. The revenue record and the crop statistics are also maintained by them. The Tahsildars and Naib-Tahsildars are responsible for collection of land revenue and other dues payable to the Government. To remain in touch with the subordinate revenue staff, to observe the seasonal conditions and condition of crops, to listen to the difficulties of the cultivators and to distribute the taccavi loans, the Tahsildar and Naib-Tahsildars extensively tour the areas in their jurisdiction. They decide urgent matters on the spot, like correction of entries in the account books, providing relief to the people faced with natural calamities, etc. On their return from the tour, they prepare reports and recommend to the Government remission or suspend-sign of land revenue and bring the records update. They also sit in the courts to settle disputes of tenancy, arrears of rent ejectment of tenants, entries in account books, etc. besides doing other kind of work.
The Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars in the district are assisted by the following revenue staff:-o Officer Kanungos
o Assistant Officer Kanungos
o  Field Kanungos
o  Peshi Kanungo
o Agrarian Kanungo
o Patwaris
o The Deputy Commissioner is the Registrar and is responsible for the registration work in the district.
o The Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars at Nuh, Firozepur Jhirka, Punhana and Tauru perform the functions of Sub-Registrars and Joint Sub-Registrars respectively.
CITY-MAGISTRATE
He is the chief administrative officer under the deputy commissioner and assists him in all executive and administrative functions. He is not required to do touring in the district but stays at the headquarters to supervise the work of the office. He also functions as the District Electoral officer. In addition to the above the General assistant attends to a lot of miscellaneous work.
DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT AND PANCHAYAT OFFICER
He is the principal officer to help the Deputy Commissioner to carry on the community development and welfare programmes. He deals with the following subjects:-
o Work relating to development
o Five Year Plans and local development works.
o Panchayat Samitis, Local Bodies and Panchayats.
DISTRICT REVENUE OFFICER
The post of DRO was created in the year 1983. He is also the principal officer to help the Deputy Commissioner to Carry out work relating to revenue and recovery works.
POLICE
The police administration in the district is under the Superintendent of Police, who next to the Deputy Commissioner is responsible for the maintenance of law and order. The Superintendent of Police is assisted by two Deputy Superintendents of Police posted at Nuh, Firozepur Jhirka, Punhana and Tauru.
JUDICARY
There is a sessions division at Nuh. District & Session Judge, Additional District & Session Judge, CJM, Senior Sub Judge hold separate court in Judiciary Complex. Besides two Judges at Narwana & two Judges at Safidon hold the court there.
DISTRICT-ATTORNEY
All civil cases in a district are conducted by the District Attorney under the guidance of the Legal Remembrances to Government and criminal cases under the guidance of the director of Prosecution. The District Attorney is not allowed any private practice. He is required to give legal advice to district level officers. No fee is charged. If, however, a central government office at the district level seeks legal opinion, the prescribed fee is realized and credited into the government account. The District Attorney, Nuh is assisted by one Assistant District Attorney Grade-I and 7 Assistant District Attorney(Grade II).
Summary
The general administration of the district is vested with the Deputy Commissioner, who for administrative purposes, is under the Divisional Commissioner, Hisar. He is at once the
Deputy Commissioner, the District Magistrate and the Collector. As Deputy Commissioner, he is the executive head of the district with multifarious responsibilities relating to
development, panchayats, local bodies, civil administration, etc. As District Magistrate, he is responsible for law and order and heads the police and prosecuting agency. As Collector, he is the chief Officer of the revenue administration and is responsible for the collection of land revenue, and is also the highest revenue judicial authority in the district. He acts as the district Elections Officer and the Registrar for registration work.
Self-Check Exercise•    Aspirational District Programme•    Deputy commissioner
Glossary
Aspirational programme: The Government is committed to raising the living standards of its citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all – “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas”. To enable utilization of their potential, this program closely focuses on improving people’s ability to participate fully in the burgeoning economy.
Deputy commissioner: The general administration of the district is vested with the Deputy Commissioner, who for administrative purposes, is under the Divisional Commissioner, Hisar. He is at once the Deputy Commissioner, the District Magistrate and the Collector
Answer to Self-Check Exercise

a) 7.3,7.4
Suggested Reading

•    Volume VII, P.35–38. 7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
Terminal Questions

•    Explain power and Role of deputy Commissioner
Chapter- 8Autonomous district council in north Eastern state in India
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Major Issues Associated with the ADCs?
change
What should be the Way Forward?
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Introduction
In January 2019, Cabinet approved amendment to Article 280 and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to increase autonomy, financial resources and powers of the autonomous district councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. The three Autonomous District Councils (ADC) of Meghalaya have urged the National Commission for Scheduled Tribe to direct the State government not to interfere into their affairs.
The three ADCs have also apprised the 15th Finance Commission that the revenue collected is barely sufficient to carry out their day- to-day administrative activities and primary duties as envisaged in the sixth schedule leaving virtually no funds for development work.
What is Its Background of Origin?

■    India’s population consists of 100 million tribal people who have constitutionally been addressed via two distinct avenues i.e., Fifth and Sixth Schedule.

■    Fifth and Sixth Schedules were discussed and passed by Constituent Assembly between September 5-7, 1949.

■    The Fifth Schedule applies to the overwhelming majority of India’s tribes in nine States, while the Sixth Schedule covers areas that are settled in the north eastern States bordering China and Myanmar.

■    The Sixth Schedule gives tribal communities considerable autonomy; the States of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Mizoram are autonomous regions under the Sixth Schedule.

■    The District Council and the Regional Council under the Sixth Schedule have real power to make laws, possibility on the various legislative subjects, receiving grants-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the costs of schemes for development, health care, education, roads and regulatory powers to state control.

■    The mandate towards devolution, deconcentration and divestment determines the protection of their customs, better economic development and most importantly ethnic security.

■    However, the Sixth Schedule has its own shortcomings; breakdown of law and order, elections not being contested, rather than empowerment there is exclusion that fails to provide much-needed protection to tribes in the absence of political will, and live by the mercy of government funds.
What are the Provisions under the Sixth Schedule?

■    The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the administration of the tribal areas in the four north eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram as per Article 244.

■    The Governor is empowered to increase or decrease the areas or change the names of the autonomous districts. While executive powers of the Union extend in Scheduled areas with respect to their administration in Vth schedule, the VIth schedule areas remain within executive authority of the state.

■    The acts of Parliament or the state legislature do not apply to autonomous districts and autonomous regions or apply with specified modifications and exceptions.

■    The Councils have also been endowed with wide civil and criminal judicial powers, for example establishing village courts etc. However, the jurisdiction of these councils is subject to the jurisdiction of the concerned High Court.

■    The sixth schedule to the Constitution includes 10 autonomous district councils in 4-states.-These-are:
o Assam: Bodoland Territorial Council, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and Dima Hasao Autonomous District Council.
o Meghalaya:Garo Hills Autonomous District Council, Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council and Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council.
o Tripura: Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.
o Mizoram: Chakma Autonomous District Council, Lai Autonomous District Council, Mara Autonomous District Council.

■    Recently, a demand has been raised in Parliament to include the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to safeguard land, employment, and cultural identity of the local population.

■    The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 was introduced to bifurcate the State into two separate union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature), and Ladakh (without legislature).
Major Issues Associated with the ADCs?

■    Granting special provisions to certain minority tribal groups have led to further demands by other groups for such provisions under the 6th schedule. This has created disparity among the people and resulted in the rise of conflict between various groups.

■    In terms of financial autonomy, the members across the ADCs in North Eastern states share the same view that the ADCs are at the mercy of the state governments. There exists a huge gap between the approved budget and the funds received from the State Government which has had a direct impact on the development of these tribal communities.

■    They are also dependent upon state governments for decisions regarding undertaking of developmental activities in their region.

■    Due to the extensive corruption, development in these regions is seen to be a nonexisting phenomena.

■    Lack of coordination between the States governments and Department of Planning and Development, Hill Areas Department and the Autonomous councils has resulted in the lackadaisical implementation of the development work.

■    Absence of any efficient Committee for the purpose of monitoring, evaluation and keeping a record of the funds received and utilized has led to extensive corruption and under development of these regions under the Autonomous Councils.

■    Members of the Chakma, Lai and Mara Councils of Mizoram are of the view that funds coming from the Central Government is not sufficient enough, and believes that funds should be granted to different councils on the basis of backwardness of the councils and not on the basis of population.

■    The State government justifies this position by stating that the ADCs have been holding on to their traditional roles of protecting the tribal identity in the region which abstains the State from various developmental activities.

■    At the same time the ADCs have small amount of funds which they receive as taxes and land revenues, however they have to depend on the Central government for more funds.

■    In terms of representation of members in the Autonomous Council, Bodoland Territorial Councilis the only council which has 46 members, which is the highest representation and also the only council which has members from the Non-tribal community represented in the Council.

■    Time to time different ADCs have demanded an increase in the number of members in the ADCs.

■    Unlike the Panchayati Raj System where the 73rd amendment allows reservation of one third of all the Panchayat seats for women at different levels, both Fifth and Sixth Schedules have no mention of women representation and gender equality.

■    The relationship to land is the basis of tribal or indigenous identity and that the culture and identity of indigenous people cannot be preserved without maintaining control over land and natural resources, as these factors to a large extent determines the lifestyle and culture of the indigenous people.

■    Generally tribal or indigenous cultural practices community land ownership, while some other tribes practice individual with clan ownership,however modern land relations and formal law recognizes only individual ownership of land.

■    It was under colonial rule that the process of turning land into commodity began for their own interest, in the name of development. Post independence, large tracts of lands were given away to the immigrants and other settlers.

■    The autonomy and power of the District Councils lie in the hands of a small group of elites who govern the functioning of the Autonomous DistrictCouncils.

■    There is clear lack of interest and pursuit on the part of the District Council members in taking initiative and planning and monitoring developmental activities at the micro level.

■    The absence of involvement of local stakeholders in the process of development and in the decision making process has deprived the common masses from their democratic rights.

■    The Sixth Schedule also vests enormous powers to the Governor. Members of the various ADCs, in this context are of the opinion that the Governors are mere puppets in the hands of the Ministers.

■    A major gap in the functioning of the ADCs is the lack of interaction at the village and field level. There is an absence of efficient village councils or regional councils.
Changes

■    The government and other agencies need to win the confidence of non- scheduled area population and bring a sense of security and belongingness to them.

■    There has to be a proper coordination or adjustment between traditional practices and usages with changes that have occurred within the tribal society today.

■    The issue on representation needs to be seriously reconsidered, which still has limited participation of women in the decision making process, and also excludes the non-tribals of the State.

■    Adequate accountability and transparency of funds generated should be entrusted to authorities such as the Comptroller-General and Auditor-General of Accounts to prevent misuse.

■    Documentation and codification of traditional laws is an essential step through which actual aim of the Sixth Schedule that is protection of tribal cultural identity can be fulfilled.

■    Measures should be taken in order to ensure that the Autonomous Councils have well defined legislations which clearly identify the powers of the village level bodies,release of funds by the government, transparency in the allocation and utilization of funds.

■    Stringent laws regarding frequent reviewing of financial position of the ADCs like the Panchayati Raj System will enhance the status of the ADCs.

■    There is a need for inclusive development and capacity building of ADCs by introducing ideas from the PRI setup.

■    Strengthening and empowering the local self-governance, which would also include Village and Tribal Councils.

■    Empowerment of civil society bodies would contribute immensely in the monitoring of the developmental activities and progress rate across diverse sectors undertaken by the councils.

■    Traditional forms of governance must be promoted with self governance.

■    To make ADCs platform of governance broader and capable of dealing with a changing world at both the national and international levels, there is a need for inclusion of democratic elements like gender justice into these institutions.

■    To get a positive outcome the members of the ADCs should be trained, as capacity building of the ADCs members is vital for healthy governance and helps one to be more alert about the responsibilities assigned and the overall functioning.

■    The functioning of the ADCs should be amended to make them accountable through the insertion of a clause that makes mandatory the creation of village councils/ bodies with a degree of representation to the traditional institutions of chiefs.

■    Creation of effective watch dog with the powers of Lokayukta in monitoring and keeping a track of the activities undertaken by the ADCs should be given priority as this will help in maintaining transparency in matters of finance and other developmental plans and activities.

■    Regular and assured financial assistance from governments an efficient monitoring system are two major factors which will determine the success of such provisions,along with awareness and active participation of the other stakeholders.
What should be the Way Forward?

■    The ADCs in the past decades have been successful to a certain extent in preserving the tribal identity and attained statehood for some of the tribes who had been struggling for a separate state in the North Eastern part of India.

■    However, in the present context where the states have been witnessing various changes in terms of development, upgradation of administrative setups, welfare programmes and policies and also changes in the demographic structure it is time that the provisions under the Sixth Schedule needs to be enhanced in order to cope up with the changing mechanisms and demands of the local communities.

■    Under the prevailing setup, not only the existing powers and functions of the traditional bodies are extremely limited, but also their access to resource allocation is severely poor.

■    The tribes in other parts of India are faced with problems of development as well as identity. Hence it is worth exploring extension of such systems in other parts of tribal India.
Summary
The District Council and the Regional Council under the Sixth Schedule have real power to make laws, possibility on the various legislative subjects, receiving grants-in-aid from the
Consolidated Fund of India to meet the costs of schemes for development, health care, education, roads and regulatory powers to state control.
Self-Check Exercise

•    Major Issues Associated with the ADCs

•    Provisions under the Sixth Schedule
Glossary
The Governor is empowered to increase or decrease the areas or change the names of the autonomous districts. While executive powers of the Union extend in Scheduled areas with respect to their administration in Vth schedule, the VIth schedule areas remain within executive authority of the state.
The District Council and the Regional Council under the Sixth Schedule have real power to make laws, possibility on the various legislative subjects, receiving grants-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the costs of schemes for development, health care, education, roads and regulatory powers to state control.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise

a) 8.1,8.2
Suggested Reading

• Volume VII, P.35–38.7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
Terminal Questions
Major Issues Associated with the ADCs?
Chapter-9
District Rural Development Agencies
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Context of decentralization
Status of DRDAs in the States
Role & Functions of The District Rural Development Agency
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Introduction
District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) has traditionally been the principal organ at the district level to oversee the implementation of anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. This agency was originally created to implement the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). Subsequently, the DRDAs were entrusted with a number of programmes of both state and central governments. The task of DRDA has been to identify the needs of the rural population and reach the appropriate schemes where they are needed. In implementing the schemes, the role of the DRDA has been technical, managerial and financial. Thus, DRDA is not only a body to disburse the funds for the schemes but also provides appropriate managerial and technical support.
The governing body of DRDA includes Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs), District level officials of Development Departments, Bankers, NGOs and
representatives of weaker sections of the society. The Governing body at the district level provides guidance and directions to DRDA.
From April 1999 a separate DRDA Administration has been introduced to take care of the administrative costs. This aims at strengthening the DRDAs and make them more professional in managing the anti-poverty programmes and be an effective link between the ministry and the district level.
Rural development and poverty alleviation programmes are implemented on a decentralised basis, keeping in view the large geographical areas, the administrative requirements and the need to involve grassroots-level officials and the community in the implementation of the programmes. At the central level, the Ministry of Rural Areas & Employment has been implementing these programmes. The Ministry is responsible for the release of the central share of funds, policy formulation, overall guidance, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes. At the State level, the Principal Secretary, Rural Development and the Commissioner of Rural Development are overall in-charge of the implementation of the rural development programmes. At the District level, the programmes are implemented through the DRDAs (District Rural Development Agencies).
Context of decentralization
With the adoption of the Constitutional mandate for decentralization of powers that privileged those self-government institutions in planning for economic development and social justice, the proposal to re-think the status of DRDAs and also to merge them with the panchayats had emerged. Under the section on 'devolution of functionaries' the 1st Round Table had adopted a resolution, number IV(i), for reconceiving the role of District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs). DRDAs were to be progressively merged with the District Panchayats and their technical expertise was made available to all tiers of Panchayats.
At an all India level, the progress reported in this regard is far from satisfactory. There are some vexed issues, one among which is the 'reported' reluctance on the part of some of the institutions of the Union Government for the proposal of merger of DRDAs with the district Panchayats. The complete merger seems to have happened only in Kerala and Karnataka. The latter has a much longer history of doing this. In both the States the DRDAs function as if they were the cells for poverty alleviation/ rural development schemes within the Zilla Panchayats.
West Bengal is reported to have taken similar steps; yet, it does not measure up to the yardstick of a complete merger. Rajasthan and Lakshadweep State/ UT Profile make a similar assertion; this report is unable to confirm this.
Status of DRDAs in the States
In 10 States/ UTs the DRDAs continue to be separate with the only linkage established with the ZPs is making the president of ZP the chairperson of the DRDA. These are Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Lakshadweep. In Gujarat the district development officer, who is also the chief executive officer of the Zilla Panchayat, continues to chair the DRDA. In nine states/ UTs either the collector continues as the chair or some other arrangement has been made in this regard. These are Assam, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, and Pondicherry. Andhra Pradesh has made the Zilla Panchayat president the chair of the DRDA while designating the collector as the executive chairperson. Similarly, in Maharashtra, while the President Zilla Panchayat is made the chair of the DRDA, the chief executive officer of the Zilla Panchayat is designated as the executive chairman of the management committee.
ROLE & FUNCTIONS OF THE DISTRICT RURAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

1.    If effective programme design is critical to successful implementation of rural development programmes, so is an effective delivery agency. None of the anti- poverty programmes can have impact unless they are implemented with a clarity of purpose and a commitment to the task. It is here that the DRDAs play a critical role. The DRDAs are not be implementing agencies, but can be very effective in enhancing the quality of implementation through overseeing the implementation of different programmes and ensuring that necessary linkages are provided. To this extent the DRDA is a supporting and a facilitating organisation and needs to play a very effective role as a catalyst in development process.

2.    The District Rural Development Agency is visualised as a specialised and a professional agency capable of managing the anti- poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development on the one hand and to effectively relate these to the overall effort of poverty eradication in the District. In other words, while the DRDA will continue to watch over and ensure effective utilisation of the funds intended for anit-poverty programmes, it will need to develop a far greater understanding of the processes necessary for poverty alleviation/ eradication. It will also need to develop the capacity to build synergies among different agencies involved for the most effective
results. It will therefore need to develop distinctive capabilities rather than perform tasks that are legitimately in the domain of the PRIs or the line departments. The role of the DRDA will therefore be distinct from all the other agencies including the Zilla Parishad.

3.    DRDAs must themselves be more professional and should be able to interact effectively with various other agencies. They are expected to coordinate with the line departments, the Panchayati Raj Institutions, the banks and other financial institutions, the NGOs as well as the technical institutions, with a view to gathering the support and resources required for poverty reduction effort in the district. It shall be their endeavor and objective to secure inter-sectoral and interdepartmental coordination and cooperation for reducing poverty in the district. It is their ability to coordinate and bring about a convergence of approach among different agencies for poverty alleviation that would set them apart.

4.    The DRDAs are expected to coordinate effectively with the Panchayati Raj The institutions. Under no circumstances will they perform the functions of PRIs.

5.    The DRDAs are expected to oversee the implementation of different anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development in the district. This is not to be confused with actual implementation, which will be by the Panchayati Raj and other Institutions. The DRDAs will monitor closely the implementation through obtaining of periodic reports as well as frequent field visits. The purpose of the visit should be to facilitate the implementing agencies in improving implementation process, besides ensuring that the quality of implementation of programmes is high. This would include overseeing whether the intended beneficiaries are receiving the benefits under the different programmes.

6.    It shall be the duty of the DRDAs to oversee and ensure that the benefits specifically earmarked for certain target groups (SC/ST, women and disabled) reach them. They shall take all necessary steps to achieve the prescribed norms.

7.    The DRDAs shall take necessary step to improve the awareness regarding rural development and poverty alleviation particularly among the rural poor. This would involve issues of poverty, the opportunities available to the rural poor and generally infusing a sense of confidence in their ability to overcome poverty. It would also involve sensitizing the different functionaries in the district to the different aspects of poverty and poverty alleviation programmes.

8.    The DRDAs will strive to promote transparency in the implementation of different anti- poverty programmes. Towards this end, they shall publish periodically, the details of the different programmes and their implementation.

9.    Keeping in view, the substantial investment that are being made in poverty alleviation programmes, the DRDAs shall ensure financial discipline in respect of the funds received by
them, whether from Central or State Governments. They shall also ensure that the accounts are properly maintained including in respect of the funds allocated to banks or implementing agencies in accordance with the guidelines of different programmes.

10.    Thus the role of the DRDA is in terms of planning for effective implementation of anti-poverty programmes; coordinating with other agencies- Governmental, non-Governmental, technical and financial for successful programme implementation; enabling the community and the rural poor to participate in the decision making process, overseeing the implementation to ensure adherence to guidelines, quality, equity and efficiently; reporting to the prescribed authorities on the implementation; and promoting transparency in decision making and implementation.

11.    In addition the DRDAs shall coordinate and oversee the conduct of the BPL Census and such other surveys that are required from time to time.

12.    The DRDAs shall also carry out/ aid in carring out action research/ or evaluation studies that are initiated by the Central/ State Governments.

13.    The DRDAs should deal only with the anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. If DRDAs are to be entrusted with programmes of other ministries or those of the State Governments, it should be ensured that these have a definite anti-poverty focus. Entrusting of any programme to the DRDAs, other than anti- poverty programmes of the Ministry, be it of any other Ministry of Government of India or the respective State Government will have to be done with the approval of the Secretary, Rural Development of the respective State(s), who should examine such request in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, In such cases, it must be ensured that adequate provision is made for requisite staffing needed for proper implementation of the programme.
Summary
The DRDA is the principal organ at the district level to manage and oversee the implementation of different anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. It is a supporting and facilitating organization which plays a very effective role as a catalyst in development process.
Self-Check Exercise• Role & Functions of the District Rural Development Agency
Glossary
District Rural Development Agency:The District Rural Development Agency is visualised
as a specialised and a professional agency capable of managing the anti- poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development on the one hand and to effectively relate these to the overall effort of poverty eradication in the District.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise a)9.1,9.4Suggested Reading

•    Volume VII, P.35–38.7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
Terminal Questions•    What do you understand by Role and Functions of DRDA
Chapter- 10
Evolution of Local Governance in India
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Ancient period
British Period
Present Time
Recommendations
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Introduction
Viewed in this context, the Terms of Reference of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) pertaining to Local Self Government assume special significance since they cover key areas of reforms in Local Governance. These Terms of Reference are:

(i)    Improving delivery mechanism of public utilities and civic services with greater citizens’ and stakeholders’ involvement in such processes. Utilities like water, power, health and sanitation, education, etc.

(ii)    Empowerment of local self - government institutions for encouraging participative governance and networking.

(iii)    To encourage capacity building and training interventions for better performance of local bodies.
The Commission has examined the issues of Rural and Urban Local Governance in three parts which are as follows:
(A)Common Issues: This part deals with issues which are common to both rural and urban governance. (B)Rural Governance: This part deals with issues related to rural governance.
(C)Urban Governance: This part deals with issues concerned with urban governance.
Ancient period
The concept of local self government is not new to our country and there is mention of community assemblies in the Vedic texts. Around 600 B.C., the territory north of the river Ganga comprising modern day north Bihar and eastern U.P. was under the suzerainty of small republics called Janapadas among which Lichhavis were the most powerful. In these Janapadas, the affairs of the State were conducted by an assembly consisting of local chieftains. In the post Mauryan times as well, there existed republics of Malavas and the Kshudrakas where decisions were taken by “sabhas”. The Greek Ambassador, Megasthenes, who visited the court of Chandragupta Maurya in 303 B.C. described the City Council which governed Pataliputra – comprising six committees with 30 members. Similar participatory structures also existed in South India. In the Chola Kingdoms, the village council, together with its sub-committees and wards, played an important part in administration, arbitrated disputes and managed social affairs. They were also responsible for revenue collection, assessing individual contribution and negotiating the collective assessment with the King’s representative. They had virtual ownership of village waste land, with right of sale, and they were active in irrigation, road building and related work. Their transactions, recorded on the walls of village temples, show a vigorous community life and are a permanent memorial to the best practices in early Indian polity.
The present structure of Local Self Government institutions took shape in 1688 when the British established a Municipal Corporation at Madras which was followed by creation of similar bodies at Bombay and Calcutta (1726). Comprising a Mayor and a majority of Britishborn Councillors, these Corporations were basically units of administration enjoying considerable judicial powers. During the next 150 years, municipal bodies were created in several mufasil1 towns although their functions remained confined to conservancy, road repairs, lighting and a few other sundry items.
British Period
In 1872, Lord Mayo introduced elected representatives for these municipalities and this was further developed by his successor, Lord Ripon, in 1882. By the 1880s, these urban
municipal bodies had a
pre-dominance of elected representatives in a number of cities and towns, including Calcutta and Bombay. A corresponding effective structure for rural areas came up with the enactment of the Bengal Local Self Government Act, 1885 which led to the establishment of district local boards across the entire territory of the then Bengal province. These boards comprised nominated as well as elected members with the District Magistrate as Chairman who was responsible for maintenance of rural roads, rest houses, roadside lands and properties, maintenance and superintendence of public schools, charitable dispensaries and veterinary hospitals. Within a span of five years, a large number of district boards came into existence in other parts of the country, notably Bihar, Orissa, Assam and North West Province. The Minto-Morley Reforms, 1909 and the Montague Chelmsford Reforms, 1919, when Local Self Government became a transferred subject, widened the participation of people in the governing process and, by 1924-25, district boards had a preponderance of elected representatives and a non-official Chairman. This arrangement continued till the country’s Independence in 1947 and thereafter till the late 1950s.
Present Time
The debates in the Constituent Assembly indicate that the leaders at that time were hesitant to introduce a wholesale change in the then prevailing administrative system and as a compromise, it was agreed that Panchayati Raj Institutions would find place in the Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV, Article 40) which, inter alia, provides that the State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government. But there was a general view that local government institutions would be creatures of the State Legislature and hence there was no whittling down of the powers of the State Government.
In compliance with the provisions of the Directive Principles of State Policy pertaining to establishment of village panchayats as units of self - government, an ambitious rural sector initiative, the Community Development Programme, was launched in 1952. Its main thrust was on securing socio-economic transformation of village life through people’s own democratic and cooperative organisations with the government providing technical services, supply and credit. Under this programme 100 to 150 villages formed a Community Development Block and participation of the whole community was the key element of this experiment which strengthened the foundation of grassroots democracy. In 1953, the National Extension Service was introduced which was an amplified version of the Community Development Programme and aimed at transferring scientific and technical knowledge to agricultural, animal husbandry and rural craft sectors. The underlying theme was extension of innovative pilot projects and while the programme did not have any content of elected democratic institutions since
they were run by government functionaries with the help of ad hoc semi-popular bodies like Vikas Mandal and Prakhand Samiti, yet in the midst of the euphoria prevailing immediately after Independence in the country, they, to a great extent, caught the attention of the rural masses.
In 1956, when the Second Five Year Plan was launched, it recommended that the Village Panchayats should be organically linked with popular organisations at higher levels and in stages the democratic body should take over the entire general administration and development of the district or the sub division excluding functions such as law and order, administration of justice and selected functions pertaining to revenue administration. To operationalise this initiative, Government appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Shri Balwantrai Mehta in 1957. The Balwantrai Mehta Committee offered two broad directional thrusts; first that there should be administrative decentralisation for effective implementation of the development programmes and the decentralised administrative system should be placed under the control of local bodies. Second, it recommended that the CD/NES blocks throughout the country should be designed as administrative democratic units with an elected Panchayat Samiti at this level to operate as a fulcrum of developmental activity in the area. This Samiti would need guidance of technical personnel in many matters; hence it should have line department officers of suitable competence under its control. The Panchayat Samiti was also to be equipped with sources of income. Certain powers of control were retained by the government; like supersession of Panachayat Samiti in public interest, suspension of a resolution of a Panchayat Samiti by the Collector on grounds of breach of peace, being contrary to the law of the land or being ultra vires the Constitution. The recommendations also suggested reservation for SC/ST and women through co-option. In order to ensure coordination, the Committee recommended formation of a Zila Parishad at the district level consisting of all the Presidents of the Panchayat Samitis, Members of Legislative Assemblies and Members of Parliament with district level officers of the public health, agriculture, veterinary and education departments as members and the Collector as the chairman. But the Committee made it clear that the district tier was being conceived just as an advisory body; a support structure for Panchayat Samitis.
Recommendations
The recommendations of the Committee were generally welcomed and Panchayati Raj legislations were enacted in a number of States to give effect to these recommendations. By the 1960s, Gram Panchayats covered 90% of the rural population in the country. Out of 4974 Blocks, Prakhand2 Samities were formed in 4033 blocks. Out of 399 districts in existence, 262 Zila Parishads were also constituted with varying degrees of actual power. Although a number of Panchayat structures were set up in different States at all the three tiers, they had
limited powers and resources and the essential idea that
all developmental activity should flow only through the Block Panchayat Samitis lost ground. Moreover, important schemes like the SFDA, DPAP and ITDP were not brought within the purview of the elected Zila Parishad even in States like Maharashtra and Gujarat where effective financial decentralisation had taken place. Unfortunately, after the intensive stage of the Community Development programme, there was a visible trend towards centralisation. Panchayati Raj elections were postponed indefinitely and flow of funds for Block Development were reduced to a trickle. The net result was that, by the 1970s, these bodies remained in existence without adequate functions and authority. The position of these institutions was further weakened due to the creation of a large number of parastatals, which were assigned many of the functions legitimately envisaged in the domain of PRIs, for example water supply, slum improvement boards, etc. on the perception that these functions were too complex and resource dependent to be handled by local governments.
Beginning with Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh in 1959, the Panchayati Raj system was at work in some form in all the States of the Indian Union, although the higher tier had not been set up in Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir. By end 1980s, except Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, all other States and UTs had enacted legislation for the creation of PRIs. In 14 States/ UTs, there was a three-tier system, in 4 States/UTs it was a two-tier structure and in 9 States/ UTs only one tier functioned.
In 1969, the first Administrative Reforms Commission in its report on State Administration recommended that the main executive organ of the Panchayati Raj system should be located at the district level in the form of “Zila Parishad” and not at the Block level as Panchayat Samiti. It was of the view that the Zila Parishad would be in a better position to take a composite view of the resources and needs of the entire district and thus will be able to formulate a plan for the area. The Commission also believed that due to paucity of resources, it was difficult to sustain a well equipped administrative and development machinery at the level of a Block.
In 1977, Government formed a committee under the chairmanship of Shri Asoka Mehta to go into the working of Panchayati Raj Institutions and to suggest measures to strengthen them into effective local apparatus for decentralised planning and development of the rural areas. This was considered necessary in view of the Government’s high priority to rural development which included the need to increase agricultural production, create employment and eradicate poverty. The Asoka Mehta Committee was of the view that the democratic process could not stop at the state level. The series of elections held for Parliament and State Legislature had attuned the people to the democratic political processes and made them conscious of their power and rights as political sovereigns in the country. The concept of Panchayati Raj, like democracy at national and state levels, is both an end as well as a
means. It was an inevitable extension of democracy to the grass roots which in turn makes it the base of the democratic pyramid of the country. In the end, Panchayati Raj should emerge as a system of democratic local government discharging developmental, municipal and ultimately regulatory functions. Based on the Maharashtra-Gujarat model which was commended by the first Administrative Reforms Commission and a number of other committees, the Committee chose the district as the first point of decentralisation below the State level.
The next level of self-governing institutions recommended by this Committee was the Mandal Panchayat which was to cover a population of around 10,000 to 15,000. It was thought that the cluster of villages falling in the jurisdiction of the Mandal panchayat would turn into a growth centre. As an ad hoc arrangement, the Committee recommended continuation of the Panchayat Samiti at the Block level, not as a unit of self- government but as a nominated middle level support body working as an executing arm of the Zila Parishad. Similarly, at the village level it thought of a nominated village level committee consisting of (a) local member elected to Mandal Panchayat, (b) local member elected to the Zila Parishad, and (c) a representative of small and marginal farmers.
In the total view of the set-up, the Zila Parishad was recommended to take up planning for the district as a whole, to coordinate the programmes and to guide the lower PRI tiers. The recommendations also called for creation of a machinery for taking up the district level planning exercise and for this it recommended stationing professionally qualified teams of experts at the district headquarters. The annual plan thus prepared had to be placed before the Zila Parishad for their comments/views. The Committee’s other recommendation was on transfer of all development functions and related government staff to the control of the Zila Parishad. To assist the Zila Parishad, it recommended creating a senior post known as the Chief Executive Officer who could provide support to the body in formulation and implementation of policies. In order to ensure effective coordination among officers posted at the district, this officer could be senior in rank to the District Collector.
With minor variations introduced by subsequent committees in the 1980s, the recommendations of the Asoka Mehta Committee were generally well received and led many of the States to introduce appropriate amendments in their Panchayati Raj Acts. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat adopted the new arrangement, but U.P., Bihar, Orissa, Punjab and Haryana held back. Some of them did not hold elections even to the existing bodies.
The Committee which submitted its report in 1978 was also of the view that despite the rhetoric, Panchayat empowerment was not of much use unless it received Constitutional standing. Hence, there was need for introducing a Constitutional amendment on this subject.
With some variations, these recommendations form the basis of the PRI format in existence in the country today
Although a number of committees were formed between 1978 and 1986 to look into various aspects of strengthening the local self -government institutions such as the committees under Shri C.H. Hanumantha Rao, Shri G.V.K. Rao and Shri L.M. Singhvi, only minor suggestions were made for any change in the ideas/structures proposed by the Asoka Mehta Committee. The next landmark in decentralised governance occurred with the 64th and 65th Constitutional Amendment Bills introduced in July 1989 by the Government of Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The basic provisions of the Bills were:

(a)    it should be mandatory for all States to set up PRIs/ULBs,

(b)    the elections to be conducted by the Election Commission,

(c)    tenure of Panchayats/ULBs to be five years and, if dissolved before time, fresh elections should be held within six months,

(d)    all seats (except those meant for the representatives of other institutions) to be filled through direct elections,

(e)    reservation of seats to be made for SC/ST/Women,

(f)    Local Bodies to be entrusted with more functions e.g., minor irrigation, soil conservation, bio-gas, health, benefits to SC/ST etc.

(g)    planning and budgeting systems be introduced at the panchayat level,

(h)    the State Legislature to authorise Panchayats/ULBs to levy taxes/tolls and fees,
(i)a separate commission to review the Local Body finances, and

(j)    PRI/ULB accounts to be audited by the CAG. The Bill could however not be passed in the Rajya Sabha.
In 1990, a combined Constitution Amendment Bill, covering both PRIs & ULBs was tabled in Parliament. It was a skeleton legislation which left the details to be crafted by the State Governments in their State enactments; even matters concerning elections were left completely to the discretion of the State Government. With the dissolution of the Government, this Bill too lapsed.
Finally in 1992, after synthesising important features of the earlier exercises on this subject, Government drafted and introduced the 73rd and 74th Amendments Bill in Parliament which were passed in 1993. These introduced new Parts IX and IXA in the Indian Constitution containing Articles 243 to 243ZG.
The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution constitute a new chapter in the process of democratic decentralisation in the country. In terms of these Amendments, the responsibility for taking decisions regarding activities at the grass roots level which affect people’s lives directly would rest upon the elected members of the people themselves. By making regular elections to Panchayati Raj/Municipal bodies mandatory, these institutions have been given permanency as entities of self government with a specific role in planning for economic development and social justice for the local area. In totality, the intention of these Amendments is to assign a position of command to them in the democratic framework of the country. But there seems to be an area of weakness in the constitutional scheme. Local government being a State subject under Schedule VII, the implementability of these provisions is, to a large extent, dependent on the intention and strength of the State Panchayati Raj enactment. The challenge is to ensure an architecture for the State law which is in total harmony with the spirit of the 73rd and 74th Amendment.
Article 243 B of the Constitution envisages that all the States/UTs, except those with populations not exceeding 20 lakhs, will have to constitute a three-tier system of Panchayats i.e. at the village, intermediate and district levels. While the district has been defined as a normal district in a State, the jurisdiction of village and intermediate levels have not been specifically defined in the Act. A village as per the provisions of the Constitution is to be specified by the Governor by a public notification for the purpose of this part and includes a group of villages so specified. That means the territorial area of a Village Panchayat can be specified by a public notification by the Governor of the State, and may consist of more than one village. Similarly, the intermediate level which can be a Taluk, Block or a Mandal, is also to be specified by the Governor through a public notification in this regard. This provides a certain amount of flexibility to the States in constituting Panchayats at the lower and middle levels.
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in India have, over the years, developed certain critical strengths, although they are characterised by several systemic weaknesses and constraints as well. Post the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, Panchayats have been established at three levels, the district, block and cluster of villages (Village Panchayat). The number of Village Panchayats in the country as on 1st December, 2006 was 2,32,913; of the Intermediate Panchayats 6,094 and of the District Panchayats

537. The total number of representatives elected to these bodies is 28,28,779 – out of which 10,38,989 (36.7%) are women.
Consequent to the 73rd Constitutional Amendment as well as the Supreme Court’s rulings which effectively mandate that local authorities are also to be treated as ‘Government or State;’ the PRIs have acquired substantial legitimacy, are recognised as an instrument of the
Government, and have
created participatory structures of grass roots democracy for the rural people. Creation of Constitutional bodies like the State Election Commissions and the State Finance Commissions have also given permanency and stability to these institutions. However, most Panchayats continue to be treated as agencies of the State for implementation of prescribed schemes, even though essential services such as provision of drinking water, rural sanitation, preventive health and primary education are accepted as their legitimate core functions. Moreover, the PRIs have a varied menu of potential taxes such as on professions, entertainment, tolls, users charges etc., but remain crippled by lack of elastic revenue sources. Internal Revenue mobilisation remained at only 4.17% of the total revenue of panchayats at all levels in 23 States during 1990-91 to 1997-98. In a few States like Bihar, Rajasthan, Manipur and Sikkim, it was ‘nil’ during this period. Although the 11th and 12th Finance Commissions have provided untied grants to these institutions, their financial capacity remains suspect. As a result, PRIs exist as over-structured but under-empowered organisations, boasting of Constitutional status but suffering from lack of effective devolution of powers and functions from the State Governments.
At the same time, the structure of district administration under the control of the Collector/District Magistrate, characterised by a command structure and lack of horizontal coordination at the grass roots level, has become somewhat anachronistic in the modern democratic framework of our polity. In order to make local administration more responsive, transparent and accountable to citizens, there is need to have a representative government not only in the Union and States but also at the district and village levels with an equitable division of functions among them. However, any such reform agenda is constrained by the lack of cooperation between the legislature and the representatives of local bodies as well as the lack of capacity of the Panchayati Raj Institutions to take on enhanced responsibilities because of absence of trained personnel as well as their financial incapacity. The fact that most States have, during the 1970s and 80s, created state-wide autonomous organisations and parastatals to carry out even local level functions such as water supply also means that the issue of division of functions between such organisations and the local authorities comes in the way of greater decentralisation.
As regards urban local self-government, although municipalities played a key role in local self- government during British Rule, the actual task of managing civic functions by the ULBs themselves tended to remain constrained by their poor finances. After Independence, the focus tended to be on rural India and the concept of Gram Swaraj and urban local bodies were not given much attention. Thus, the Directive Principles of the Constitution refer to Village Panchayat and the only reference to urban local bodies is in the ‘State List’ of the Constitution.

10.6.    Summary
Integrating institutional reforms in local governance with economic reforms was Gandhiji’s farsighted vision of ‘Poorna Swaraj’. Economic reforms and local government empowerment are the two great initiatives launched in the 1990’s. Economic reforms have taken roots over the years and have yielded significant dividends in the form of enhanced growth rate, bulging foreign exchange reserves and availability of a variety of goods and services. The freedom and choice resulting from the reforms have built a broad national consensus across the political spectrum ensuring their continuity. Local government empowerment too is broadly accepted as a vital principle and all parties are committed to it. But, in practice, real empowerment as envisaged has not taken place.
Self-Check Exercise

•    Evolution of Ancient period

•    Evolution of British period
Glossary
the Directive Principles of the Constitution refer to Village Panchayat and the only
reference to urban local bodies is in the ‘State List’ of the Constitution.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise A
10.1,10.4
a)10.1,10.5
Suggested Reading

•    Volume VII, P.35–38.7. P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal, Fifth Edition, 2002, P. 4.
Terminal Questions

•    Analysis of Evolution of Local Governance in India
Chapter- 11
73rd Constitutional Amendment Act
Learning Outcome
Introduction
Initiatives towards Constitutional Status to Local Governance
73rd amendment act of 1992
Eleventh Schedule
compulsory and voluntary provisions
Reasons for Ineffective Performance
summary
self -check exercise
Glossary
Answer to self -check exercise
Suggested readings
Terminal Questions
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
After studying this Unit, you should be able to:

•    Identify the background of revitalization of local governance;

•    Understand the features of 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment;

•    Discuss the initiatives after economic reforms; and
INTRODUCTION
The revitalization of Panchayati Raj manifested through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment owes its origin to the dynamic leadership of Rajiv Gandhi. In his address to the 5th Workshop on ‘Responsive Administration’ held at Coimbatore in June, 1988, he said that“If our district
administration is not sufficiently responsive, the basic reason is thatit is not only sufficiently representative. With the decay of Panchayati Raj Institutions, the administration has got isolated from the people thus dulling its sensitivity to the needs of the people”. With events moving at a faster pace, Panchayati Raj emerged asa major institutional channel of such administration. The Constitution 73rd Amendment Act, 1992 came into effect from 24th April 1993. No one disputes that it is a historic legislation. The basic question arises as to what was the basic sprit behind this legislation? Was it limited to the passing of conformity acts and endowing panchayats with some administrative and financial powers or to make them genuine institutions for participatory self-government? The emphasis has been so far on theformer, which has made panchayats mere implementing agencies of central and state schemes, passed on to them, with funds. The basic objective of the democratic decentralization through reactivation of the Panchayati Raj system was to realize Gandhiji’s concept of “ Swarajya”(Ibid.). In this Unit we will be discussing the various features of the 73rd and the 74th amendments.
INITIATIVES TOWARDS CONSTITUTIONAL STATUSTO LOCAL GOVERNANCE
As is known, both the amendment bills (64th and 65th) could not sail through the Parliament because of opposition from the Rajya Sabha. Allegedly and arguably, they put local governance under direct control of the Centre, which was resented by the states. However, these two bills provided enough opportunity for a national debate as to whetherthe PRIs should be given constitutional status. The bills also helped the members of the Parliament to go into the details, as and when opportunity came, through more suitable amendments. By the time the mid-term Lok Sabha assembled, the consensus emerged that PRIs be given Constitutional status and suitable provisions be made so as to enable these institutions to function as an agent of change and development at the local level. After coming to power in 1991, the Congress Government gave top priority to the PRIs and brought out the Constitutional 72nd Amendment Bill, 1991. The Bill was passed by the Parliament on Dec22, 1992 and is now known as the Constitution 73rd Amendment Act, 1992.
The institutionalization of democratic decentralization in the form of statutory PRIs thus opened a new chapter in the history in India and gave a new turn to the evolution ofrural local self- government institutions. The term institutions of self-government have been interpreted in two ways; firstly, the constitution says that the Panchayats are institutions of
self-governance, implying that they must have autonomy and the power to govern in an exclusive area of jurisdiction. In its essential element, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment gives Panchayat this distinct status. Therefore, it is the de facto third tier of governance. Secondly, it strengthens ‘administrative federalism’. Professor S. Guhan argues that the provisions of 73rd Amendment strengthen administrative federalism in order to facilitate andencourage delegation of administrative and financial powers from the states to the local bodies. Their administrative powers and to discharge their responsibilities, are entirely derived from legislation that will have to passed by the states.
Firstly, the most debated problem till recently was giving constitutional recognition to the PRIs. It was often observed by the scholars that the founding fathers of the Constitution gave only lip service to democratic decentralization by mentioning it in Article 40 of the Constitution in (Part IV) the Directive Principles of State Policy. But after the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, the PRIs have got constitutional legitimacy. Indian federalism has moved a step further in that up till now there had been two tiers of governance; henceforth, there would be three acknowledged tiers of governance. However, there is a strong body of opinion that in order to give an air of finality to the scheme, a separate list, namely the panchayat list could have been included in the seventh schedule, which lists subjects for legislation into the Union, the State List and the Concurrent List.
Secondly, the present amendment does address the issue of uniformity of structure acrossthe country but leaves certain important matters, such as size of a panchayat at a level,to the discretion of the state governments.
Thirdly, PRIs by and large, had failed because of irregular elections and frequent suppression and suspension. The chronic problem was rightly been taken care of by the recent amendment. However not all states have been dutiful in complying with the provisions. Court intervention has been necessary, as for example, in the case of Orissa and Uttar Pradesh to secure compliance (Chaudhrai, 2003). Courts also had to intervene to ensure compliance with the reservation clause in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
Fourthly, the Gram Sabha is an institution, which provides an opportunity to participate meaningfully in governance, to all the people willing and capable of participating in the development process. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment makes the establishment of Gram Sabha mandatory. It however, leaves it to the State Governments to spell out its jurisdictions
and powers. Most state legislation assign to Gram Sabha a ceremonial, tokenistic role, e.g., endorsing proposals, making recommendations, considering annual accounts, reviewing development plans, scrutinising completed works. Other functions entrusted to Gram Sabha include those like promoting harmony and unity in the village, mobilising voluntary labour and contributions in cash or kind, rendering assistance in implementation of development schemes, and promoting programmes for adult educationand family welfare (Sharma, 2004). Moreover scepticism has been expressed regarding direct election for the village panchayat, as arguably it would make him a ‘first among equals’ relegation other participants to a less significant position. Besides, the presence of MPs and MLAs in local bodies might overwhelm local leaders (Chaudhari, 2003).
Fifthly, yet another problem relating to the functioning of the local bodies has been the lovehate relationship between the local level bureaucracies and the elected representativesof PRIs. Due to the lack of defined roles for the two, both have had a contentious working relationship rather than displaying the required harmony. This has been one of thepractical and the more important reasons for the failure of PRIs.
And finally, other problems related to PRIs, during the last three decades have been the status of Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Parishads, the inadequacy of finances and lack of involvement of PRIs in rural development planning. The amendment has tried to take careof all of these problems by bringing them into the statute book. However, certainproblems have persisted. There has been a general reluctance to concede political space to the underprivileged in panchayats. As aforesaid, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh reportedly have not been dutiful in implanting the reservation provision of the act. Hence, could it be claimed with any degree of confidence that the backward sections would be articulateand effective or rather, and more realistically, they would get overwhelmed, as is feared,by the power elite? Would the state bureaucracy, affect a change in stance and work in cooperation with the local government? Or would a stint with a panchayat, harm the individual career prospects of bureaucrats? Would devolution of powers and functions, infact, take place in practice as it is stipulated on paper? Would increase in private and foreign stake in urban development skew the balance against the urban poor in plan priorities? These and others would be some of the pertinent questions that would needto be continually monitored by means of empirical research and rectified by policy in thisregard, on course.
73rd AMENDMENT ACT OF 1992
Significance of the Act
This act has added a new Part-IX to the Constitution of India. This part is entitled as ‘The Panchayats’ and consists of provisions from Articles 243 to 243 O. In addition, the act has also added a new Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution. This schedule contains 29 functional items of the panchayats. It deals with Article 243-G. The act has given a practical shape to Article 40 of the Constitution which says that, “The State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.” This article forms a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy. The act gives a constitutional status to the panchayati raj institutions. It has brought them under the purview of the justiciable
part of the Constitution. In other words, the state governments are under constitutional obligation to adopt the new panchayati raj system in accordance with the provisions of the act. Consequently, neither the formation of panchayats nor the holding of elections at regular intervals depend on the will of the state government any more. The provisions of the act can be grouped into two categories– compulsory and voluntary. The compulsory (mandatory or obligatory) provisions of the act have to be included in the state laws creating the new panchayati raj system. The voluntary provisions, on the other hand, may be included at the discretion of the states. Thus, the voluntary provisions of the act ensure the right of the states to take local factors like geographical, politico-administrative and others, into consideration while adopting the new panchayati raj system. The act is a significant landmark in the evolution of grassroot democratic institutions in the country. It transfers the representative democracy into participatory democracy. It is a revolutionary concept to build democracy at the grassroot level in the country.
Salient Features
The salient features of the act are:

1. Gram Sabha
The act provides for a Gram Sabha as the foundation of the Panchayati Raj system. It is a body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls of a village comprised within the area of Panchayat at the village level. Thus, it is a village assembly consisting of all the registered
voters in the area of a panchayat. It may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the village level as the legislature of a state determines.

2. Three-Tier System
The act provides for a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj in every state, that is, panchayats at the village, intermediate, and district levels. Thus, the act brings about uniformity in the structure of Panchayati raj throughout the country. However, a state having a population not exceeding 20 lakhs may not constitute panchayats at the intermediate level.

3. Election of Members and Chairpersons
All the members of panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels shall be elected directly by the people. Further, the chairperson of panchayats at the intermediate and district levels shall be elected indirectly–by and from amongst the elected members thereof. However, the chairperson of a panchayat at the village level shall be elected in such manner as the state legislature determines. The chairperson of a panchayat and other members of a panchayat elected directly or indirectly shall have the right to vote in the meetings of the panchayats.

4.    Reservation of Seats
The act provides for the reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in every panchayat (i.e., at all the three levels) in proportion of their population to the total population in the panchayat area. Further, the state legislature shall provide for the reservation of offices of chairperson in the panchayat at the village or any other level for the SCs and STs. The act provides for the reservation of not less than one-third of the total number of seats for women (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging the SCs and STs). Further, not less than one-third of the total number of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women. The act also authorises the legislature of a state to make any provision for reservation of seats in any panchayat or offices of chairperson in the panchayat at any level in favour of backward classes. The reservation of seats as well as the reservation of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes shall cease to have effect after the expiration of the period specified in Article 334 (which is presently seventy years, that is, till 2020). It must be noted here that the above provision relating to the reservation of seats in panchayats (both members and chairpersons) for the scheduled castes is not applicable to the state of Arunachal Pradesh. This is because the state is inhabited fully by
indigenous tribal people and there are no scheduled castes. This provision was added later by the 83rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 2000.

5.    Duration of Panchayats
The act provides for a five-year term of office to the panchayat at every level. However, it can be dissolved before the completion of its term. Further, fresh elections to constitute a panchayat shall be completed (a) before the expiry of its duration of five years; or (b) in case of dissolution, before the expiry of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution. But, where the remainder of the period (for which the dissolved panchayat would have continued) is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election for constituting the new panchayat for such period. Moreover, a panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a panchayat before the expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved panchayat would have continued had it not been so dissolved. In other words, a panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution does not enjoy the full period of five years but remains in office only for the remainder of the period.

6.    Disqualifications
A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as or for being a member of panchayat if he is so disqualified, (a) under any law for the time being in force for the purpose of elections to the legislature of the state concerned, or (b) under any law made by the state legislature. However, no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than 25 years of age if he has attained the age of 21 years. Further, all questions of disqualifications shall be referred to such authority as the state legislature determines.

7.    State Election Commission
The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to the panchayats shall be vested in the state election commission. It consists of a state election commissioner to be appointed by the governor. His conditions of service and tenure of office shall also be determined by the governor. He shall not be removed from the office except in the manner and on the grounds prescribed for the removal of a judge of the state high court4. His conditions of service shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. The state legislature may make provision with respect to all matters relating to elections to the panchayats.

8.    Powers and Functions
The state legislature may endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government. Such a scheme may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon Panchayats at the appropriate level with respect to (a) the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice; (b) the implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice as may be entrusted to them, including those in relation to the 29 matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule.

9.    Finances
The state legislature may (a) authorise a panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees; (b) assign to a panchayat taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the state government; (c) provide for making grants-in-aid to the panchayats from the consolidated fund of the state; and (d) provide for constitution of funds for crediting all moneys of the panchayats.

10.    Finance Commission
The governor of a state shall, after every five years, constitute a finance commission to review the financial position of the panchayats. It shall make the following recommendations to the Governor:

1.    The principles that should govern:

(a)    The distribution between the state and the panchayats of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied by the state and allocation of shares amongst the panchayats at                                            all                                            levels.

(b)    The determination of taxes, duties, tolls and fees that may be assigned to the panchayats.

(c)    The grants-in-aid to the panchayats from the consolidated fund of the state.

2.    The measures needed to improve the financial position of the panchayats.

3.    Any other matter referred to it by the governor in the interests of sound finance of the panchayats. The state legislature may provide for the composition of the commission, the required qualifications of its members and the manner of their selection. The governor shall place the recommendations of the commission along with the action taken report before the state legislature.
The Central Finance Commission shall also suggest the measures needed to augment the consolidated fund of a state to supplement the resources of the panchayats in the states (on the basis of the recommendations made by the finance commission of the state).

11.    Audit of Accounts
The state legislature may make provisions with respect to the maintenance of accounts by the panchayats and the auditing of such accounts.

12.    Application to Union Territories
The provisions of this Part are applicable to the Union territories. But, the President may direct that they would apply to a Union territory subject to such exceptions and modifications as he may specify. Exempted States and Areas The act does not apply to the states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram and certain other areas. These areas include, (a) the scheduled areas and the tribal areas in the states5 ; (b) the hill areas of Manipur for which district councils exist; and (c) Darjeeling district of West Bengal for which Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists.
However, the Parliament may extend the provisions of this Part to the scheduled areas and tribal areas subject to such exceptions and modifications as it may specify. Under this provision, the Parliament has enacted the “Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act”, 1996, popularly known as the PESA Act or the Extension Act.

13.    Continuance of Existing Laws and Panchayats
All the state laws relating to panchayats shall continue to be in force until the expiry of one year from the commencement of this act. In other words, the states have to adopt the new panchayati raj system based on this act within the maximum period of one year from 24 April, 1993, which was the date of the commencement of this act. However, all the panchayats existing immediately before the commencement of act shall continue till the expiry of their term, unless dissolved by the state legislature sooner. Consequently, majority of states passed the panchayati raj acts in 1993 and 1994 to adopt the new system in accordance with the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992.

14.    Bar to Interference by Courts in Electoral Matters
The act bars the interference by courts in the electoral matters of panchayats. It declares that the validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies cannot be questioned in any court. It further lays down that no election to any panchayat is to be questioned except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as provided by the state legislature.
Eleventh Schedule
It contains the following 29 functional items placed within the purview of panchayats:

1.    Agriculture, including agricultural extension

2.    Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land
consolidation and soil conservation

3.    Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development

4.    Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry

5.    Fisheries

6.    Social forestry and farm forestry

7.    Minor forest produce

8.    Small-scale industries, including food processing industries

9.    Khadi, village and cottage industries

10.    Rural housing

11.    Drinking water

12.    Fuel and fodder

13.    Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of communication

14.    Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity

15.    Non-conventional energy sources

16.    Poverty alleviation programme

17.    Education, including primary and secondary schools

18.    Technical training and vocational education

19.    Adult and non-formal education

20.    Libraries

21.    Cultural activities

22.    Markets and fairs

23.    Health and sanitation including hospitals, primary health centres
and dispensaries

24.    Family welfare

25.    Women and child development

26.    Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and
mentally retarded

27.    Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the
scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes

28.    Public distribution system

29.    Maintenance of community assets
COMPULSORY AND VOLUNTARY PROVISIONS
Now, we will identify separately the compulsory (obligatory or mandatory) and voluntary (discretionary or optional) provisions (features) of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (1992) or the Part IX of the Constitution:

A.    Compulsory Provisions

1.    Organisation of Gram Sabha in a village or group of villages.

2.    Establishment of panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels.

3.    Direct elections to all seats in panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels.

4.    Indirect elections to the post of chairperson of panchayats at the intermediate and district levels.

5.    Voting rights of the chairperson and other members of a panchayat elected directly or indirectly.

6.    21 years to be the minimum age for contesting elections to panchayats.

7.    Reservation of seats (both members and chairpersons) for SCs and STs in panchayats at all the three levels.

8.    Reservation of one-third seats (both members and chairpersons) for women in panchayats at all the three levels.

9.    Fixing tenure of five years for panchayats at all levels and holding fresh elections within six months in the event of supersession of any panchayat.

10.    Establishment of a State Election Commission for conducting elections to the panchayats.

11.    Constitution of a State Finance Commission after every five years to review the financial position of the panchayats.

B.    Voluntary Provisions

1.    Endowing the Gram Sabha with powers and functions at the village level.

2.    Determining the manner of election of the chairperson of the village panchayat.

3.    Giving representation to the chairpersons of the village panchayats in the intermediate panchayats or in the case of a state not having intermediate panchayats, in the district panchayats.

4.    Giving representation to the chairpersons of the intermediate panchayats in the district panchayats.

5.    Giving representation to members of the Parliament (both the Houses) and the state legislature (both the Houses) in the panchayats at different levels falling within their constituencies.

6.    Providing reservation of seats (both members and chairpersons) for backward classes in panchayats at any level.

7.    Granting powers and authority to the panchayats to enable them to function as institutions of self-government (in brief, making them autonomous bodies).

8.    Devolution of powers and responsibilities upon panchayats to prepare plans for economic development and social justice; and to perform some or all of the 29 functions listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.

9.    Granting financial powers to the panchayats, that is, authorizing them to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees.

10.    Assigning to a panchayat the taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the state government.

11.    Making the grants-in-aid to the panchayats from the consolidated fund of the state.

12.    Providing for constitution of funds for crediting all moneys of the panchayats.
REASONS FOR INEFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE
Even after conferring the constitutional status and protection through the 73rd Amendment Act (1992), the performance of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) has not been satisfactory and not up-to the expected level. The various reasons for this sub-optimal performance are as follows:

1.    Lack of adequate devolution: Many States have not taken adequate steps to devolve 3Fs (i.e., functions, funds and functionaries) to the PRIs to enable them to discharge their constitutionally stipulated function. Further, it is imperative that the PRIs have resources to match the responsibilities entrusted to them. While SFCs (state finance commissions) have submitted their recommendations, not many few States have implemented these or taken steps to ensure the fiscal viability of the PRIs.

2.    Excessive control by bureaucracy: In some States, the Gram Panchayats have been placed in a position of subordination. Hence, the Gram Panchayat Sarpanches have to spend extraordinary amount of time visiting Block Offices for funds and/or technical approval. These interactions with the Block staff office distort the role of Sarpanches as elected representatives.

3.    Tied nature of funds: This has two implications. The activities stated under a certain scheme are not always appropriate for all parts of the district. This results in unsuitable activities being promoted or an under-spend of the funds.

4.    Overwhelming dependency on government funding: A review of money received and own source funds shows the overwhelming dependence of Panchayats on government funding. When Panchayats do not raise resources and instead receive funds from outside, people are less likely to request a social audit.

5.    Reluctance to use fiscal powers: An important power devolved to GP (Gram Panchayat) is the right to levy tax on property, business, markets, fairs and also for services provided, like street lighting or public toilets, etc. Very few Panchayats use their fiscal power to levy and collect taxes. The argument pushed by Panchayat heads is that it is difficult to levy tax on our own constituency, especially when you live in the community.

6.    Status of the Gram Sabha: Empowering the Gram Sabhas could have been a powerful weapon for transparency, accountability and for involvement of the marginalized sections. However, a number of the State Acts have not spelt the powers of Gram Sabhas nor have any procedures been laid down for the functioning of these bodies or penalties for the officials.

7.    Creation of Parallel Bodies: Often, Parallel Bodies (PBs) are created for supposedly speedy implementation and greater accountability. However, there is little evidence to show that such PBs have avoided the evils including that of partisan politics, sharing of spoils, corruption and elite capture. Missions (in particular) often bypassing mainstream programmes, create disconnect, duality, and alienation between the existing and the new structures and functions. PBs usurp the legitimate space of PRIs and demoralize the PRIs by virtue of their superior resource endowments.

8.    Poor Infrastructure: A large number of Gram Panchayats in the country do not have even full time Secretary. Around 25 percent of the Gram Panchayats do not have basic office buildings. The database for planning, monitoring etc., are lacking in most of the cases.
Summary
The 73rd. Amendment Act, 1992, has only provided the general guidance for the effective and efficient working of panchayat raj institutions (PRIs) in India. It has granted the PRIs Constitutional status and some sort of uniformity by making three-tier system a permanent feature; regularity, by making election an imperative after the termination of the PRIs after every five years and provision of the State Election Commission to conduct and supervisethe
election; and more financial autonomy with the constitution of the State Finance Commission, to outline its major contributions.
self -check exercise•    Compulsory and voluntary provisions•    73rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1992Glossary
73rdConstitutional Act         : Provisions related to PRI in India.
11th Schedule of the Constitution: related to the powers and functions of the Municipal Administration.
Answer to self -checka) 11.2,11.5Suggested Readings

1.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

2.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India”
Terminal Questions

•    Describe silent features of 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1992
Chapter -12
74th AMENDMENT ACT OF 1992
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
The Salient features of 74th Act
Twelfth Schedule
Summary
Self -Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self -Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Learning Objectives
After going through this lesson, the students will be able to know

•    Historical background of the urban local government.

•  The features/characteristics of 74th Act of 1992

•  The implication of the 74th Act after the implementation.

•    The uniformity in the Urban bodies structure.
Introduction
This Act has added a new Part IX-A to the Constitution of India. This part is entitled as ‘The Municipalities’ and consists of provisions from Articles 243-P to 243-ZG. In addition, the act has also added a new Twelfth Schedule to the Constitution. This schedule contains eighteen functional items of municipalities. It deals with Article 243-W. The act gave constitutional status to the municipalities. It has brought them under the purview of justiciable part of the Constitution. In other words, state governments are under constitutional obligation to adopt the
new system of municipalities in accordance with the provisions of the act. The act aims at revitalising and strengthening the urban governments so that they function effectively as units of local government.
Salient Features
The salient features of the act are:
Three Types of Municipalities The act provides for the constitution of the following three types of municipalities in every state.

1.    A Nagar panchayat (by whatever name called) for a transitional area .

2.    A municipal council for a smaller urban area.

3.    A municipal corporation for a larger urban area.
But, there is one exception. If there is an urban area where municipal services are being provided by an industrial establishment, then the governor may specify that area to be an industrial township. In such a case, a municipality may not be constituted. The governor has to specify a transitional area, a smaller urban area or a larger urban area, keeping in view the following factors:

(a)    Population of the area.

(b)    Density of the population therein.

(c)    Revenue generated for local administration.

(d)    Percentage of employment in non-agricultural activities.

(e)    Economic importance.(f) Such other factors as he may deem fit.
Composition
All the members of a municipality shall be elected directly by the people of the municipal area. For this purpose, each municipal area shall be divided into territorial constituencies to be known as wards. The state legislature may provide the manner of election of the chairperson of a municipality. It may also provide for the representation of the following persons in a municipality.

1.    Persons having special knowledge or experience in municipal administration without the right to vote in the meetings of municipality.

2.    The members of the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assembly representing constituencies that comprise wholly or partly the municipal area.

3.    The members of the Rajya Sabha and the state legislative council registered as electors within the municipal area.

4.    The chairpersons of committees (other than wards committees)
Wards Committees
There shall be constituted a wards committee, consisting of one or more wards, within the territorial area of a municipality having population of three lakh or more. The state legislature may make provision with respect to the composition and the territorial area of a wards committee and the manner in which the seats in a wards committee shall be filled.
Other Committees
In addition to the wards committees, the state legislature is also allowed to make any provision for the constitution of other committees. The chairpersons of such committees may be made members of the municipality.
Reservation of Seats
The act provides for the reservation of seats for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes in every municipality in proportion of their population to the total population in the municipal area. Further, it provides for the reservation of not less than one-third of the total number of seats for women (including the number of seats reserved for woman belonging to the SCs and the STs).
The state legislature may provide for the manner of reservation of offices of chairpersons in the municipalities for SCs, STs and women. It may also make any provision for the reservation of seats in any municipality or offices of chairpersons in municipalities in favour of backward classes.
The reservation of seats as well as the reservation of offices of chairpersons in the municipalities for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes shall cease to have effect after the expiration of the period specified in Article 334 (which is presently seventy years, that is, till 2020).
Duration of Municipalities
The act provides for a five-year term of office for every municipality. However, it can be dissolved before the completion of its term. Further, the fresh elections to constitute a municipality shall be completed (a) before the expiry of its duration of five years; or (b) in case of dissolution, before the expiry of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution. But, where the remainder of the period (for which the dissolved municipality would have continued) is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election for constituting the new municipality for such period. Moreover, a municipality constituted upon the dissolution of a municipality before the expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved municipality would have continued had it not been so dissolved. In other words, a municipality reconstituted after premature dissolution does not enjoy the full period of five years but remains in office only for the remainder of the period. The act also makes two more provisions with respect to dissolution:

(a)    a municipality must be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before its dissolution; and

(b)    no amendment of any law for the time being in force shall cause dissolution of a municipality before the expiry of the five years term.
Disqualifications
A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as or for being a member of a municipality if he is so disqualified (a) under any law for the time being in force for the purposes of elections to the legislature of the state concerned; or (b) under any law made by the state legislature. However, no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than 25 years of age if he has attained the age of 21 years. Further, all questions of disqualifications shall be referred to such authority as the state legislature determines.
State Election Commission
The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to the municipalities shall be vested in the state election commission. The state legislature may make provision with respect to all matters relating to elections to the municipalities.
Powers and Functions
The state legislature may endow the municipalities with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government. Such a scheme may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon municipalities at the appropriate level with respect to (a) the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice; (b) the implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice as may be entrusted to them, including those in relation to the eighteen matters listed in the Twelfth Schedule.
Finances
The state legislature may (a) authorise a municipality to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees; (b) assign to a municipality taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by state government; (c) provide for making grants-in-aid to the municipalities from the consolidated fund of the state; and (d) provide for constitution of funds for crediting all moneys of the municipalities.
Finance Commission
The finance commission (which is constituted for the panchayats) shall also, for every five years, review the financial position of municipalities and make recommendation to the governor as to:

1.    The principles that should govern:

(a)    The distribution between the state and the municipalities of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied by the state and allocation of shares amongst the municipalities at all levels.

(b)    The determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees that may be assigned to the municipalities.

(c)    The grants-in-aid to the municipalities from the consolidated fund of the state.

2.    The measures needed to improve the financial position of the municipalities.

3.    Any other matter referred to it by the governor in the interests of sound finance of municipalities.
The governor shall place the recommendations of the commission along with the action taken report before the state legislature. The central finance commission shall also suggest the
measures needed to augment the consolidated fund of a state to supplement the resources of the municipalities in the state (on the basis of the recommendations made by the finance commission of the state).
Audit of Accounts
The state legislature may make provisions with respect to the maintenance of accounts by municipalities and the auditing of such accounts.
Application to Union Territories
The provisions of this part are applicable to the Union territories. But, the President may direct that they would apply to a Union territory subject to such exceptions and modifications as he may specify.
Exempted Areas
The act does not apply to the scheduled areas and tribal areas in the states. It shall also not affect the functions and powers of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council of the West Bengal. However, the Parliament may extend the provisions of this part to the scheduled areas and tribal areas subject to such exceptions and modifications as it may specify.
District Planning Committee
Every state shall constitute at the district level, a district planning committee to consolidate the plans prepared by panchayats and municipalities in the district, and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole. The state legislature may make provisions with respect to the following:

1.    The composition of such committees;

2.    The manner of election of members of such committees;

3.    The functions of such committees in relation to district planning; and

4.    The manner of the election of the chairpersons of such committees. The act lays down that four-fifths of the members of a district planning committee should be elected by the elected members of the district panchayat and municipalities in the district from amongst themselves.
The representation of these members in the committee should be in proportion to the ratio between the rural and urban populations in the district. The chairperson of such committee shall forward the development plan to the state government. In preparing the draft development plan, a district planning
committee shall

(a)    Have regard to–

(i)    matters of common interest between the Panchayats and Municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of water other physical and natural resources, the integrated develop of infrastructure and environmental conservation;

(ii)    the extent and type of available resources whether financial otherwise; and

(b)    Consult such institutions and organisations as the Governor may specify
Metropolitan Planning Committee
Every metropolitan area shall have a metropolitan planning committee to prepare a draft development plan5. The state legislature may make provisions with respect to the following:

1.    The composition of such committees;

2.    The manner of election of members of such committees;

3.    The representation in such committes of the Central government, state government and other organisations;

4.    The functions of such committees in relation to planning and coordination for the metropolitan area; and

5.    The manner of election of chairpersons of such committees. The act lays down that two-thirds of the members of a metropolitan planning committee should be elected by the elected members of the municipalities and chairpersons of the panchayats in the metropolitan area from amongst themselves. The representation of these members in the committee should be in proportion to the ratio between the
population of the municipalities and the panchayats in that metropolitan area. The chairpersons of such committees shall forward the development plan to the state government. In preparing the draft development plan, a metropolitan planning
committee shall

(a)    Have regard to–

i)    the plans prepared by the Municipalities and the Panchayats the Metropolitan area;

(ii)    matters of common interest between the Municipalities and Pan-chayats, including coordinated spatial planning of the are sharing of water and other physical and natural resources, integrated development of infrastructure and environment conservation;

(iii)    the overall objectives and priorities set by the Government India and the government of the state;

(iv)    the extent and nature of investments likely to be made in Metropolitan area by agencies of the Government of India and the Government of the State and other available resource whether financial or otherwise; and

(b)    consult such institutions and organisations as the Governor may specify
Continuance of Existing Laws and Municipalities
All the state laws relating to municipalities shall continue to be in force until the expiry of one year from the commencement of this act. In other words, the states have to adopt the new system of municipalities based on this act within the maximum period of one year from 1 June, 1993, which is the date of commencement of this act. However, all municipalities existing immediately before the commencement of this act shall continue till the expiry of their term, unless dissolved by the state legislature sooner.
Bar to Interference by Courts in Electoral Matters
The act bars the interference by courts in the electoral matters of municipalities. It declares that the validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies cannot be questioned in any court. It further lays down that no election to any municipality is to be questioned except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as provided by the state legislature.
Twelfth Schedule
It contains the following 18 functional items placed within the purview of municipalities:

1.    Urban planning including town planning;

2.    Regulation of land use and construction of buildings;

3.    Planning for economic and social development;

4.    Roads and bridges;

5.    Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes;

6.    Public health, sanitation, conservancy and solid waste management;

7.    Fire services;

8.    Urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects;

9.    Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded;

10.    Slum improvement and upgradation;

11.    Urban poverty alleviation;

12.    Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds;

13.    Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects;

14.    Burials and burial grounds, cremations and cremation grounds and electric crematoriums;

15.    Cattle ponds, prevention of cruelty to animals;

16.    Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths;

17.    Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences; and

18.    Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries.
Summary
These are in brief some of the major provisions incorporated with Principal Acts governing the Municipalities and Municipal Corporations in the State of Punjab. There is no doubt that Punjab Government has amended Its Principal Acts in accordance with the provisions contained in 74th Amendment Act, 1992. Since Local Bodies have been under the direct control of the State like other states in the country, it would be interesting to watch how the present State of Punjab would grant autonomy to such institutions, which are to emerge as strong rivals to them in the area of exercise of power and development. Would these institutions be able to take up the enormous challenges which have been entrusted to them by the Constitution? Certainly,
the Urban Local Bodies in the State would require enormous support, in terms of resources and change in their basic framework and attitude. In nutshell, we can say that the 74th Amendment Act has provided enormous opportunity to the planners for enabling them to play their designated role in overall planning and development at different levels. It is too early to comment but next few years will provide us the final answer.
Self Check Exercise

•  Constitutional 74th Amendment Act
Glossary
74th Constitutional Act         : Provisions related to Municipal Administration.
12th Schedule of the Constitution: related to the powers and functions of the Municipal Administration.
Answer to Self Check ExerciseA 12.2b. 12.3Suggested Reading

3.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

4.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India”
Terminal Questions

1.    Discuss the features of Municipal Administration in India, after the enactment of the Constitutional 74th Amendment Act. Also discuss the role and functions of local urban bodies after the enactment of the 74th Constitution Act.
Chapter-13
Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat: Composition, Functions & Role
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Differences between Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabha
Key functions of Gram Sabha
Introduction to Gram Panchayat
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Learning Objectives

• Able to understand Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat: Composition, Functions & Role.
Introduction
The term Gram Sabha is defined in the Constitution of India under Article 243(b). Gram Sabha is the primary body of the Panchayati Raj system and by far the largest. It is a permanent body. Gram Sabha is the Sabha of the electorate.
Panchayati Raj is a system of governance in which Gram Panchayat are the basic units of administration. The number of members usually ranges from 7 to 31; occasionally, groups are larger, but they never have fewer than seven members.
Panchayati Raj in India signifies the system of rural local self-governance. It is entrusted with rural development. The Panchayati Raj is a three-tier structure consisting of the Zila Parishad,
Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat. The Gram Panchayat is further divided into Gram Sabha and Nyaya Panchayat/ The Panchayati Raj System was constitutionalized through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 which came into effect on April 24, 1993.
Gram Sabha is the general assembly of all the people of a village, who have attained the age of 18 years and their name is entered in the voter list.
The executive committee of the Gram Sabha is known as Gram Panchayat which consists of the representatives elected by the Sabha.
Gram Panchayat is the lower element of Panchayati Raj that functions at the village level with the welfare and development of the village in mind. Gram Sabha is the legislative body that operates at the village level and takes into account the annual budget and audit reports of the Gram Panchayat.
Differences between Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabha

GRAM SABHA


GRAM PANCHAYAT


। Permanent Body . All Adult Voters
Two Meeting Held Each Year


Temporary Body Executive Body Meeting Held

Analyze the Difference Between Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat
Source: Primary Probe
| Gram Panchayat | Gram Sabha |
|---|---|
| Gram Panchayat is the lower element of Panchayati Raj that functions at the village level with the welfare and development of the village in mind. | Gram Sabha is the legislative body that operates at the village level and takes into account the annual budget and audit reports of the Gram Panchayat. |
| It is a temporary body, as the members of the panchayat are elected for a term of five years. | It is a permanent body. |
| The Gram Panchayat consists of ward members and Sarpanch. | The Gram Sabha consists of every person whose name is registered in the voter list of the perspective village. |
| The members of the Gram Panchayat are directly elected by the members of the Gram Sabha. | The members of Gram Sabha are not elected. |
| Every month a meeting is organised by the gram panchayat. The functions of the Gram Panchayat may bifurcate as obligatory and optional functions. The obligatory functions include civic roles such as sanitation, drains and ponds. | The decisions taken by the Gram Sabha cannot be annulled by any other body. The power to do so rests with the Gram Sabha only. |


Constitution mentions that Gram Sabha exercises such powers and performs such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide. For instance, they approve of the plans, programmes and projects for social and economic development before such plans, programmes and projects are taken up for implementation by the Panchayat at the village level (Panchayat at the village level is otherwise known as Gram Panchayat). It is also responsible for the identification or selection of persons as beneficiaries under the poverty alleviation and other programmes. Every Panchayat at the village level are required to obtain from the Gram Sabha a certification of utilisation of funds by that Panchayat for such plans, programmes and projects implemented.
Key functions of Gram Sabha
Following are the important and specific functions of Gram Sabha:

•    To help implementation of the development programmes and schemes of the Panchayat.

•    To identify beneficiaries for different programmes and schemes. However, if the Gram Sabha fails to identify such beneficiaries within a reasonable time, the Gram Panchayat shall identify the beneficiaries.

•    To solicit support — in cash or kind or both and voluntary labour — from the public for community welfare programmes.

•    To support the programmes of mass education and family welfare.

•    To promote unity and harmony among all sections of the society in the village.

•    To seek clarification from the Mukhiya, Up-Mukhiya and other members of the Gram Panchayat about any particular activity, scheme, income and expenditure.

•    To discuss and recommend appropriate action with regard to reports of the Vigilance Committee.

•    Other related matters brought to the notice of the Gram Sabha.

•    To consider levy of taxes, rates, rents & fees & enhancement of rates thereof.

•    To consider all such matters as may be referred by the Gram Panchayat for its decision.
Role of Sarpanch in Gram Sabha

•    Sarpanch is legally bound to organize Gram Sabha meetings.

•    It is an obligatory duty of Sarpanch to organize a minimum of two Gram Sabha meetings every year on the dates prescribed by the Government.

•    Sarpanch should take steps to ensure larger participation of people at Gram Sabha meetings.

•    Sarpanch should take all measures to ensure participation of people from all sections of society mainly, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Women, and he should encourage them to express their grievances and give suggestions in the Gram Sabha, which are discussed in detail in the next meeting.

•    Sarpanch should preside over the Gram Sabha meetings, except that of Social Audit Gram Sabha.

•    Sarpanch should sign the register meant for recording the minutes of Gram Sabha meeting.

•    As the chairperson of the Gram Sabha meeting, the Sarpanch can answer the questions raised at the Gram Sabha by the members.

•    The sarpanch has to ensure that the suggestions made in the Gram Sabha meeting, are discussed on priority basis in Gram Panchayat meetings.

•    Sarpanch should play a pro-active role for initiating proper action on the Gram Sabha resolutions.
Role of Panchayat Secretary in Gram Sabha
The role of Panchayat Secretary is vital at Gram Sabha. The duties of Panchayat Secretary can broadly be categorized into three stages:

•    Pre-Gram Sabha

•    During Gram Sabha, and

•    Post Gram Sabha
Pre-Gram Sabha duties
The pre Gram Sabha duties of Panchayat Secretary include:

•    Finalisation of agenda for Gram Sabha in consultation with the Sarpanch.

•    Issuing notice of Gram Sabha meeting.

•    Publicising widely the Gram Sabha meeting details, such as the date, time and venue.

•    Preparing the Action Taken Report on the resolutions of the previous Gram Sabha meeting.

•    Preparation of notes on the agenda items to be placed before the current Gram Sabha meeting.

•    Providing proper seating, drinking water facilities and sanitation facilities for people attending the Gram Sabha meeting.
Duties during Gram Sabha
The duties of Panchayat Secretary during the conduct of Gram Sabha include:

•    Recording the details of members attending the meeting of Gram Sabha.

•    Presenting the Action Taken Report on resolutions of previous Gram Sabha meeting.

•    Ensuring the smooth conduct of the meeting of Gram Sabha as per its Agenda.

•    Assisting the Sarpanch in recording the minutes of Gram Sabha.

•  Recording of votes casted in favour/against of any resolution placed before Gram Sabha
Post Gram Sabha duties
These include

•    To coordinate with the Sarpanch and ward members for considering the resolutions of Gram Sabha in Gram Panchayat meetings.

•    To send report on the Gram Sabha meeting to the higher officials concerned.
Gram Sabha means a village assembly, comprising members of a village. It is the legislative body that functions at the village level and considers the Gram Panchayat's yearly budget and audit reports. Article 243(b) of the Indian Constitution defines the term Gram Sabha. Gram Sabha is responsible for strengthening people's collaboration, democratic participation, and democratic decentralisation. The Panchayati Raj and village development are centred on the Gram Sabha.
Gram Sabha - Concept

•  Article 243 of the Indian Constitution defines the term Gram Sabha (b).

•  Gram Sabha is the first and largest body in the Panchayati Raj system. It is a permanent
structure.

•    Gram Sabha is a permanent body.

•    The Panchayati Raj and local development are centred on the Gram Sabha.

•    The Gram Sabha is a platform where people can discuss local administration and development, as well as make plans for the village based on their needs.

•    The Gram Sabha's overarching mandate, supervision, and monitoring are used to implement development projects by the Panchayat.

•    All Panchayat decisions must go through the Gram Sabha, and no decision is official or valid unless the Gram Sabha agrees.

•    Gram Sabha is responsible for increasing cooperation among people, democratic participation and democratic decentralisation.
Gram Sabha - Constitutional Status

•    The term Gram Sabha is defined in the Constitution of India under Article 243(b).

•    Gram Sabha is the Sabha of the electorate. Which means gram sabha consists of all eligible voters of village, that is all adults can participate in gram sabha discussions.

•    All other institutions of the Panchayati Raj like the Gram Panchayat, Block Panchayat and Zilla Parishad are constituted by elected representatives.
Composition of Gram Sabha

•    Persons, those who are above 18 years of age.

•    Living in a small village

•    Whose names appear on the Panchayat's election rolls at the village level.
Who Organises Gram Sabha?

•    The Gram Sabha should be organized by the Panchayat Secretary with the agreement of the Sarpanch.

•    When 10% of Gram Sabha members or 50 Gram Sabha members (whichever is greater) file a request for a Gram Sabha meeting, the Gram Panchayat Sarpanch is required to call a meeting. Those members must, however, inform the meeting's aim.

•    A formal meeting request must be delivered to the Sarpanch during office hours five days prior to the meeting date.

•    If the Sarpanch fails to hold the gram Sabha meeting on the requested date, the members who requested it might organise it themselves.

•    The Government has ordered the conduct of Grama Sabha meetings a minimum of four times a year i.e. on 26th January, 1st May, 15th August and 2nd October.
Important functions of Gram Sabha

•    The Constitution mentions that the Gram Sabha exercises such powers and performs such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide (Art 243G)

•    Report of activities undertaken by the Gram Panchayat since the last Gram Sabha is presented and the resolutions and suggestions of the last Gram Sabha and the action by the Panchayat there on.

•    Discussions are held about distribution of rations, old age pension, pension for handicapped etc, in Panchayat limits.

•    The Gramsabha also discusses problems of enrolment of all children in the schools, their attendance and development of schools in its jurisdiction.

•    The Gramsabha also discusses the hospitals and veterinary institutions and their activities. They educate the people about the precautions to be taken to protect the health and hygiene of people and cattle.

•    The Health officer of the primary health centre of the Panchayat tool will attend the Gramsabha and brief the Gram Sabha about the inoculation programmes, children suffering from malnutrition and precautionary steps to be taken against disease like Malaria, etc. The Gramsabha discusses the services and facilities to be provided by the health centers.

•    The Secretary of the Gram Panchayat will identify the public works to be undertaken under the Panchayat grants and place it before the Gramsabha and get its approval for incorporating it into the plans of the Panchayat.

•    Gram Sabha has given authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights under Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
Significance of Gram Sabha

•    Gram Sabha is a village assembly of adults with the ability to hold the panchayat. It is a permanent structure.

•    The Panchayat uses the Gram Sabha's overall mission, control, and monitoring to enforce development initiatives.

•  The Gram Sabha is the most significant body in the Panchayati Raj System.

•  It is responsible for formulating plans for the growth of the community as well as
enforcing the rules.

•    It also cares for the people' fundamental necessities. It also looks after the village's public property.

•    Other responsibilities of the Gram Sabha include education, law and order, and basic health care.

•    It is also in charge of scrutinising the Gram Panchayat's decisions.

•    It monitors elected officials and holds them responsible to the people who elected them.
Introduction to Gram Panchayat
Gram Panchayat is a basic village institute. It is a formal and democratic structure at grass root level in the country. It acts as a cabinet of the village. It is a political institute. The members of the Gram Panchayat are elected by the Gram Sabha. The Gram Sabha functions as the general body of the Gram Panchayat.
Composition of Gram Panchayat
Sarpanch: He is the head of the Gram Panchayat. He is elected directly and in some cases indirectly-by-members-of-the-Gram-Panchayat.
Members: The membership of a Village Panchayat is between 5 to 31. One-third of seats of the Panchayat are reserved for women. Seats are also reserved for Scheduled Castes/ Tribes. Office-bearers: The Sarpanch and Vice-Sarpanch are honorary members. They are not paid a salary. A paid Secretary to the Panchayat and aTreasurer, if the Panchayat is large, are also appointed by the State government.
Introduction to Panchayat Samiti (Block Level)
This is the second tier above the Gram Panchayat and under the Zilla Parishad. The long programmes are organized by officials and non-officials of Panchayat Samiti with the help of a voluntary institution at Block level. This intermediate body at the block level is known by
different names in different states, like Panchayat Samiti, Kshetra Samiti, Janapada Panchayat and Panchayat Union Council.
Introduction to Zilla Parishad ( District Level)
It is a local self-government unit at district level. Panchayat Samiti forms a link between the Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishad. The Zilla Parishad is a link between the State government and the Gram Panchayats. The Zilla Parishad is also known by different names in different States, like District Develeopment Council, Zilla Parishad and Mohkuma Parishad.
Functions of the Gram Panchayat

•    The main function of the Gram Panchayat is to implement and execute the various government schemes and programs.

•    Identifying the beneficiaries of various schemes and programs in case Gram Sabha fails to do so.

•    Levying and collection of local taxes.

•    Construction as well as maintenance of the public property in the village-like roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, etc.
At Intermediate Level
At the intermediate level, there is Panchayat Samiti, which is also called Anchalik or Janpad or Block Panchayat. The intermediate level is also called the block level. Here, it is looked after by the Block Development Officer (BDO), who has a number of villages under him. There is no need for an intermediate level in the States having a population of fewer than 20 lakhs as per Article 243B of the Constitution of India.
At District Level
At this level, there is Zila Parishad. All the Block development officers of the state are answerable to the Zila Parishad. All the development plans are made by the Zila Parishad at the District levels with the help of Panchayat Samiti.
Other Details

•    As per Article 243 ( C ) ( 2 ) of the Constitution of India, all the seats are filled with direct elections at all levels.

•    Seats of SCs and STs are reserved as per their proportion of the population.

•  ^ seats are reserved for women and ^ of all the seats reserved for SCs and STs are also
reserved for women.
Summary
The Grama Sabha is the grass root level democratic institution in each Village Panchayat. A vibrant Grama Sabha is essential for the effective functioning of Village Panchayats by promoting transparency and accountability in administration, enhancing public participation in the planning and implementation of schemes and in the choice of beneficiaries, and paving the way for social audit. Here, In this article, we have talked about the Panchayats. We have learnt about the development of Panchayati Raj, the Gram Panchayat system, functions of Panchayat, how village panchayat works, the Gram Panchayat definition, the difference between Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad, and other related things. We hope these notes will help you to understand the basic unit of democracy as well as the functioning of all these bodies. Understanding how the Legislative and the Executive bodies work at the local levels can be fun but also help you know the system better and use it in real life as well.
Self-Check Exercise

•    Gram Sabha

•    Panchayat Samiti
Glossary

•    Gram Sabha: Article 243 of the Indian Constitution defines the term Gram Sabha (b). Gram Sabha is the first and largest body in the Panchayati Raj system. It is a permanent structure. Gram Sabha is a permanent body.

•    Gram Panchayat : Gram Panchayat is a basic village institute. It is a formal and
democratic structure at grass root level in the country. It acts as a cabinet of the
village
Answer to Self-Check Exercise a)13.1,13.3b) 13.4,13.5Suggested Reading

5.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

6.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India”
Terminal Questions•    Describe Difference between gram Sabha & Panchayat Samiti
Chapter-14
Panchayat Samiti & Zila Parishad: Composition, Functions & Role
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Differences between the Zila Parishad and the Gram Panchayat:
Function of Zila Parishad
Panchayat Samiti
some additional details about the Panchayat Samiti:
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
learning objective

•    Able to understands about Panchayat Samiti and its Composition, Functions & Role.

•    Able to understands about Zila Parishad and its Composition, Functions & Role introduction
The Zila-Panchayat or District-Development-Council or Zilla-Parishad or District-
Panchayat or Zilla Praja Parishad or Zila Parishad is the third tier of the Panchayati Raj system and functions at the district levels in all states. A Zila Parishad is an elected body. A District Panchayat is headed by a President, who is a elected member. Block Pramukh of Block Panchayat are also represented in Zila Parishad. The members of the State Legislature and the members of the Parliament of India are members of the Zila Parishad. The Zila parishad acts as the link between the state government and the village-level Gram Panchayat.
Zila Parishad are Panchayats at Apex or District Level in Panchayat Raj Institutions, and Gram Panchayat is the base unit at village level in Panchayati Raj Institutions.
That's correct. The Zila Parishad (District Council) is the apex body of the Panchayati Raj system in India. It is responsible for coordinating the activities of the Gram Panchayats (Village Councils) and Panchayat Samitis (Block Councils) in the district. The Zila Parishad also advises the state government on matters relating to rural development.
The Gram Panchayat is the lowest tier of the Panchayati Raj system. It is responsible for providing basic amenities to the people of the village, such as water supply, sanitation, education, and healthcare. The Gram Panchayat is also responsible for implementing government schemes and programs in the village.
The Zila Parishad and the Gram Panchayat are both important bodies in the Panchayati Raj system. They work together to ensure that the needs of the rural population are met.
Differences between the Zila Parishad and the Gram Panchayat:
| Feature          Zila Parishad Level            District Elected representatives from Composition    all the Gram Panchayats in the district Coordinating the activities of the    Gram    Panchayats, advising the state government Functions on rural development, and implementing government schemes and programs | Gram Panchayat Village Elected    representatives from the village Providing basic amenities to the people of the village, implementing government schemes and programs, and resolving local disputes |
|---|---|


The 73rd Amendment is about Governments' (which are also known as Panchayati Raj Institutions.

•    Panchayat at District (or apex) Level

•  Panchayat at Intermediate Level

•  Panchayat at Base Level
Composition
The chairmen of all the Panchayat Samitis under the district are the ex officio members of Zila Parishad. The parishad is headed by a president and a vice-president.
The deputy chief executive officer from General Administration department at district level is ex-officio secretary of Zila Parishad.
The chief executive officer, who is an IAS officer or senior state service officer, heads the administrative setup of the Zila Parishad. He/ She supervises the divisions of the parishad and is assisted by deputy CEOs and other officials at district- and block-level officers.
Function of Zila Parishad

1.    The Zila Parishad is an official body that coordinates the activities of the Panchayats in all its developmental activities,such as minor irrigation works, vocational and industrial schools, village industries, sanitation and public health among others.

2.    It advises the State Government on all matters relating to the Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samitis under its supervision and the needs of the rural population living therein.

3.    It also supervises the work of the Panchayats. It also scrutinizes the budget estimates of Panchayat Samitis in some states like Assam, Bihar and Punjab.

4.    It functions mostly through various Standing Committees, which oversee and coordinate the common programmes of the villages under its jurisdiction.
Sources of Income

1 . taxes on water, pilgrimage, markets, etc. Fixed grant from the State Government in proportion with the land revenue and money for works and
schemes assigned to the Parishad. The Zila Parishad can collect some money from the panchayats with the approval of the government.
Panchayat Samiti:
The Samiti is elected for five years and is headed by a chairman/president and deputy chairman/vice president elected by the members of the Panchayat Samiti. One sarpanch samiti supervises the other Gram Panchayats. It acts as a co-ordinating body between district panchayat and gram panchayat.

•    Composition: The Panchayat Samiti is composed of the following members:
o Sarpanches of all the Gram Panchayats in the block
o Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the block
o Members of Parliament (MPs) from the block
o Block Development Officer (BDO)
o Co-opted members representing women, Scheduled Castes/Tribes, and other Backward Classes

•    Functions: The Panchayat Samiti has a wide range of functions, including:
o Supervising and coordinating the working of the Gram Panchayats
o Planning for the development of the block
o Implementing government schemes and programs
o Providing basic amenities to the people of the block, such as water supply, sanitation, education, and healthcare
o Resolving local disputes

•    Meetings: The Panchayat Samiti meets at least once in every three months. The meetings are chaired by the Pradhan, who is the elected head of the Panchayat Samiti.

•    Funding: The Panchayat Samiti is funded by the state government and by the central government. The state government provides a block grant to the Panchayat Samiti, and the central government provides funds for specific schemes and programs.
some additional details about the Panchayat Samiti:

•    The Panchayat Samiti is also known as the Block Panchayat or the Mandal Panchayat.

•    The number of members in a Panchayat Samiti varies from state to state. In general, there are about 30 to 40 members in a Panchayat Samiti.

•    The term of office of the Panchayat Samiti is five years.

•    The Panchayat Samiti is headed by the Pradhan, who is elected by the members of the Panchayat Samiti.

•    The Panchayat Samiti has a Vice-Chairman, who is elected by the members of the Panchayat Samiti.

•    The Panchayat Samiti has a Secretary, who is appointed by the state government.
Summary
The Zila Parishad (District Council) is the apex body of the Panchayati Raj system in India. It is responsible for coordinating the activities of the Gram Panchayats (Village Councils) and Panchayat Samitis (Block Councils) in the district. The Zila Parishad also advises the state government on matters relating to rural development.
The Panchayat Samiti is an important body in the Panchayati Raj system. It plays a key role
in the development of the rural areas. The Panchayat Samiti ensures that the needs of the rural population are met, and it helps to improve the quality of life in the villages.
Self-Check Exercise
o Differences between the Zila Parishad and the Gram Panchayat:

o    Function of Zila Parishad

o  Panchayat Samiti
Glossary
The 73rd Amendment is about Governments' (which are also known as Panchayati Raj Institutions.

•    Panchayat at District (or apex) Level

•  Panchayat at Intermediate Level

•  Panchayat at Base Level
Answer to Self-Check Exercisea)14.2,14.3b) 14.4.Suggested Reading

7.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

8.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India”
Terminal Questions

•    Describe Panchayat Samiti & Zila Parishad

•    Analysis of Functions & Role of Zila Parishad
Chapter-15
Planning Machinery at State Level with Special Reference of Himachal Pradesh: State Planning Board & State Planning Department
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
State Planning Board:
State Planning Department:
Planning Machinery at State Level
Planning Machinery at the State Level in Himachal Pradesh
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Readings
Terminal Questions
Learning Objectives
Able to understand

•    Planning Machinery at State Level

•  State Planning Board

•  State Planning Department
Introduction
The planning machinery at the state level in India consists of the State Planning Board (SPB)
and the State Planning Department (SPD). The SPB is a high-level body that is responsible
for formulating the state's five-year plans and annual plans. The SPD is the secretariat to the
SPB and is responsible for providing technical and administrative support to the SPB.
In Himachal Pradesh, the SPB is headed by the Chief Minister and has a number of ministers, bureaucrats, and experts as members. The SPD is headed by a Principal Secretary and has a team of officers and staff.
The SPB and the SPD work together to formulate the state's plans. The SPB is responsible for setting the broad goals and objectives of the plans, while the SPD is responsible for translating these goals and objectives into specific projects and programs.
The SPB and the SPD also play a role in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the plans. They collect data on the progress of the plans and use this data to identify areas where the plans need to be modified or improved.
The planning machinery at the state level is an important part of the planning process in India. It helps to ensure that the state's plans are well-thought-out and that they are implemented effectively.
Here are some of the specific functions of the SPB and SPD in Himachal Pradesh:

•    Formulating the state's five-year plans and annual plans

•  Identifying and prioritizing development projects

•  Preparing project reports

•    Monitoring and evaluating the implementation of plans and projects

•    Providing technical and administrative support to the state government

•    Disseminating information about planning and development
The SPB and SPD play an important role in the development of Himachal Pradesh. They help to ensure that the state's resources are used effectively and that the state's development goals are met.
As of my last update in September 2021, I can provide some general information about statelevel planning machinery and its reference to Himachal Pradesh. However, please note that specific details may have changed after that date. It's always a good idea to verify the most recent information from official sources.
State Planning Board:
The State Planning Board is a key institution in the state-level planning process. It is responsible for formulating and overseeing the development plans and policies of the state. The board typically consists of experts, economists, administrators, and representatives from various sectors. Its primary role is to assess the current state of affairs, identify development goals, and create strategies and policies to achieve these objectives.
In Himachal Pradesh, the State Planning Board plays a crucial role in the state's development planning process. It analyzes the state's resources, identifies sectors that need improvement, and allocates funds to various development projects.
State Planning Department:
The State Planning Department is the executive arm of the State Planning Board. It is responsible for implementing the policies and plans formulated by the board. The department works closely with various government departments and agencies to ensure that the development goals are achieved effectively and efficiently.
In Himachal Pradesh, the State Planning Department would be responsible for executing the development plans laid out by the State Planning Board. It would collaborate with other government departments, local bodies, and stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of projects and schemes.
The planning machinery at the state level is an essential component of governance as it helps in promoting balanced and sustainable development across various sectors. Through these institutions, the state can prioritize its resources and efforts towards achieving socio-economic growth and addressing the needs of its citizens.
Again, I emphasize that administrative structures and policies may have evolved since my last update. For the most current and accurate information about the State Planning Board and State Planning Department of Himachal Pradesh, I recommend consulting official government sources or websites.
At the state level, planning machinery refers to the institutions and processes responsible for formulating, implementing, and monitoring development plans and policies for the respective state. The planning machinery varies from one state to another based on their administrative setup and priorities. However, certain common elements can be found in most states:
Planning Machinery at State Level

1.    State Planning Board or Planning Commission:
The State Planning Board (sometimes known as the Planning Commission) is the apex body responsible for overall planning and development in the state. It comprises experts, policymakers, and government officials and is typically chaired by the Chief Minister or a senior minister. The board formulates the state's Five-Year Plans and Annual Plans based on the assessment of available resources, existing challenges, and the development goals of the state.

2.    State Planning Department:
The State Planning Department is the executive arm of the State Planning Board. It implements the policies and programs outlined in the Five-Year Plans and Annual Plans. The department coordinates with other government departments and agencies to ensure the efficient execution of development projects and schemes.

3.    Development Departments:
Each state has various development departments that focus on specific sectors such as health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, rural development, etc. These departments work on implementing the policies and projects related to their respective areas under the guidance and coordination of the State Planning Department.

4.    District Planning Committees:
At the district level, District Planning Committees (DPCs) play a significant role in the planning process. They are responsible for formulating and implementing district-level development plans. The DPCs include representatives from various local bodies, and they
coordinate with the State Planning Board and relevant state departments to align district-level priorities with the state's overall development goals.

5.    State Finance Commission:
The State Finance Commission is responsible for recommending the distribution of financial resources between the state government and local bodies (like municipalities, panchayats, etc.) based on their responsibilities and requirements. It ensures adequate financial autonomy for local bodies to carry out their development activities.

6.    Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism:
An essential aspect of planning machinery is monitoring and evaluating the progress of various projects and schemes. The state establishes a monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness and impact of development initiatives and make necessary adjustments as needed.

7.    Public Participation:
Inclusive planning is crucial for the success of development initiatives. States may encourage public participation through various channels, such as public hearings, consultations with stakeholders, and feedback mechanisms.
It's important to note that the planning machinery may evolve over time, and specific features may vary from state to state. For up-to-date and detailed information about the planning machinery in a particular state, it is best to refer to official government sources and documentation.
Planning Machinery at the State Level in Himachal Pradesh
includes the following key components:

1.    **State Planning Board (SPB)**:
The State Planning Board of Himachal Pradesh is the apex body responsible for formulating the state's development plans and policies. It is chaired by the Chief Minister and includes experts, policymakers, and government officials. The SPB assesses the state's resources, identifies priority areas, and formulates Five-Year Plans and Annual Plans to guide the state's development efforts.

2.    **State Planning Department**:
The State Planning Department is the executive arm of the State Planning Board. It is responsible for implementing the development policies and programs as laid out in the Five-Year Plans and Annual Plans. The department works closely with other government departments, local bodies, and stakeholders to ensure effective execution of projects and schemes.

3.    **District Planning Committees (DPC)**:
At the district level, District Planning Committees play a crucial role in the planning process. The DPCs are responsible for formulating and implementing district-level development plans. They include representatives from local bodies and departments and coordinate with the State Planning Board to align district-level priorities with the state's overall development goals.

4.    **State Finance Commission (SFC)**:
The State Finance Commission in Himachal Pradesh recommends the distribution of financial resources between the state government and local bodies, such as municipalities and panchayats. It ensures an equitable allocation of funds and financial autonomy for local bodies to carry out their development activities.

5.    **Development Departments**:
Himachal Pradesh has various development departments that focus on specific sectors, including health, education, agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, and more. These
departments are responsible for implementing development policies and projects related to their respective areas.

6.    **Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism**:
The state government has a monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the progress and impact of various development initiatives. Regular evaluations help in identifying successes, challenges, and areas for improvement in the implementation of projects and schemes.

7.    **Public Participation**:
Inclusive planning and public participation are encouraged in Himachal Pradesh. The government may conduct public hearings, consultations with stakeholders, and seek feedback from the public to incorporate their views and needs into the planning process.
It's essential to keep in mind that administrative structures and policies may evolve over time. For the most current and detailed information about the planning machinery in Himachal Pradesh, I recommend referring to official government sources and recent documentation.
The State Planning Board and State Planning Department are two important entities involved in the planning and development process at the state level. These institutions play a significant role in formulating, implementing, and monitoring development plans and policies in a state.

1.    **State Planning Board**:
The State Planning Board (also known as the Planning Commission in some states) is the apex body responsible for planning and policy formulation at the state level. It is typically chaired by the Chief Minister or a senior minister and includes experts, economists, administrators, and representatives from various sectors. The primary functions of the State Planning Board are as follows:

a.    **Formulating Plans**: The board is responsible for formulating medium-term and longterm development plans for the state. These plans outline the state's development goals, objectives, and strategies to achieve sustainable and balanced growth.

b.    **Resource Allocation**: The State Planning Board allocates resources, both financial and human, to various sectors and projects based on the priorities identified in the development plans.

c.    **Monitoring and Evaluation**: The board monitors the progress of ongoing projects and evaluates the impact of development initiatives. This helps in making necessary adjustments and ensuring the efficient use of resources.

d.    **Coordination**: The State Planning Board facilitates coordination among different government departments and agencies to ensure coherence in development efforts and avoid duplication.

2.    **State Planning Department**:
The State Planning Department is the executive arm of the State Planning Board. It is responsible for implementing the policies and programs outlined in the development plans. The key functions of the State Planning Department include:

a.    **Policy Implementation**: The department works to implement the policies and projects as approved by the State Planning Board. It collaborates with various government departments and agencies to ensure effective execution.

b.    **Project Management**: The State Planning Department oversees the management of development projects, including budgeting, scheduling, and monitoring progress.

c.    **Data Collection and Analysis**: The department gathers relevant data and conducts research and analysis to support evidence-based policymaking and planning.

d.    **Preparation of Reports**: The department prepares periodic reports on the progress of development projects and the overall performance of the state in achieving its development goals.

e.    **Public Engagement**: The State Planning Department may engage with the public, stakeholders, and civil society organizations to gather inputs and feedback during the planning and implementation process.
Summary
The planning machinery at the state level is an essential component of governance as it helps in promoting balanced and sustainable development across various sectors. Through these institutions, the state can prioritize its resources and efforts towards achieving socio-economic growth and addressing the needs of its citizens. It's important to note that the structure and functions of these institutions may vary from state to state based on their administrative setup and priorities
Self-Check Exercise

•  State Planning Board:

•  State Planning Department:

•    Planning Machinery at State Level

•    Planning Machinery at the State Level in Himachal Pradesh
Glossary
The State Planning Board and State Planning Department are two important entities involved in the planning and development process at the state level.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
a) 15.2,15.3
b)15.4,15.5
Suggested Readings

9.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

10.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India” Terminal Questions

•    Role of Planning Machinery in Himachal Pradesh?
Chapter - 16
Decentralized Planning at District Level District Planning Committee Role and Function
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Decentralized Planning at the District Level Works
Benefits of Decentralized Planning at the District Level
The District Planning Committee (DPC)
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
learning objective•    Decentralized Planning at District Level•    District Planning Committee Role and Function
introduction
Decentralized planning at the district level refers to the process of devolving planning and decision-making powers to the local level, specifically to the district administration and local governing bodies. It aims to empower local communities and make them active participants in the planning and development process. Decentralization is based on the principle that local authorities have a better understanding of local needs and priorities and can devise more context-specific solutions.
decentralized planning at the district level works:

1.    **District Planning Committees (DPC)**:
District Planning Committees are central to decentralized planning at the district level. These committees consist of elected representatives from local bodies (such as municipalities and panchayats), district officials, and other stakeholders. The primary role of DPCs is to prepare and approve the district-level development plan, which aligns with the state's overall development strategy.

2.    **Participatory Approach**:
Decentralized planning encourages a participatory approach, involving local communities, stakeholders, and civil society organizations in the planning process. Public consultations, village meetings, and community feedback are essential components to gather inputs and ensure that the development plan reflects the real needs and aspirations of the people.

3.    **Identification of Local Needs and Priorities**:
At the district level, the planning process focuses on identifying and prioritizing local needs and development goals. The DPC, in collaboration with local bodies, conducts surveys, data collection, and needs assessment exercises to understand the specific challenges and requirements of the district.

4.    **Allocation of Resources**:
Decentralized planning involves the allocation of financial and other resources to local bodies based on their responsibilities and development priorities. The district administration, in coordination with the State Planning Department and State Finance Commission, ensures a fair distribution of resources to meet local needs.

5.    **Implementation and Monitoring**:
Once the district development plan is formulated, local bodies take up the responsibility of implementing various projects and schemes. The district administration and DPC oversee the execution of projects and monitor progress to ensure effective implementation.

6.    **Reporting and Evaluation**:
Regular reporting and evaluation mechanisms are put in place to assess the impact of development interventions and identify areas for improvement. Monitoring and evaluation help in making data-driven decisions and course corrections, if necessary.
Benefits of Decentralized Planning at the District Level

1.    **Local Empowerment**: Decentralization empowers local communities and ensures that they have a say in decisions that directly affect their lives.

2.    **Responsive Governance**: By involving local authorities, decentralized planning leads to more responsive and accountable governance.

3.    **Tailored Solutions**: Localized planning allows for context-specific solutions to address unique challenges faced by different districts.

4.    **Efficient Resource Allocation**: Resources can be allocated more efficiently, as local authorities have a better understanding of local needs and priorities.

5.    **Faster Implementation**: Local bodies can often implement projects more efficiently due to their proximity to the ground-level issues.
The District Planning Committee (DPC)
The District Planning Committee (DPC) plays a crucial role in the process of decentralized planning at the district level. It is an institutional mechanism that facilitates participatory planning and decision-making by involving local elected representatives and stakeholders. The DPC's primary role is to prepare and approve the district-level development plan, ensuring that it aligns with the overall state development strategy. Here are the key roles and functions of the District Planning Committee:

1.    **Preparation of District Development Plan**:
The DPC is responsible for formulating the district development plan, which outlines the development goals, strategies, and priorities for the district. This plan takes into account the specific needs and aspirations of the local population and addresses the challenges faced by the district.

2.    **Participatory Planning**:
The DPC follows a participatory approach to planning, involving various stakeholders, including local government officials, elected representatives, community leaders, civil society organizations, and representatives of marginalized groups. Public consultations, village meetings, and feedback mechanisms are used to gather inputs and ensure that the development plan reflects the needs and aspirations of the people.

3.    **Identification of Local Needs and Priorities**:
The DPC conducts surveys, data collection, and needs assessment exercises to identify the specific development needs and priorities of the district. It takes into account various sectors such as education, health, infrastructure, agriculture, and more.

4.    **Resource Allocation**:
Based on the district development plan, the DPC allocates financial and other resources to different projects and schemes. It works in coordination with the State Finance Commission and State Planning Department to ensure a fair distribution of resources to meet local needs.

5.    **Coordination with Local Bodies**:
The DPC coordinates with various local bodies, including municipalities, panchayats, and other local governing institutions, to ensure coherence and coordination in development efforts. It also aligns the district-level plan with the plans of individual local bodies.

6.    **Monitoring and Evaluation**:
Once the development plan is implemented, the DPC monitors the progress of various projects and evaluates the impact of development interventions. This helps in identifying successes, challenges, and areas for improvement.

7.    **Reporting and Accountability**:
The DPC is accountable for the effective implementation of the district development plan. It prepares periodic reports on the progress and achievements of the plan and submits them to higher authorities and the State Planning Board.

8.    **Intermediary between State and Local Level**:
The DPC acts as an intermediary between the state government and local governing bodies. It ensures that the district-level plan aligns with the broader state development goals and policies.
Summary
Decentralized planning at the district level is an important step towards achieving inclusive and sustainable development, as it brings decision-making closer to the people and ensures that their voices are heard in the development process.
The District Planning Committee's functioning is crucial in achieving decentralized and inclusive development at the grassroots level. By involving local stakeholders in the planning process, the DPC ensures that development initiatives are more responsive to the needs of the people and lead to more sustainable and equitable outcomes.
Self-Check Exercise

•    Decentralized Planning at the District Level Works

•    Benefits of Decentralized Planning at the District Level

•    The District Planning Committee (DPC)
Glossary
District Planning Committees (DPC):
District Planning Committees are central to decentralized planning at the district level. These committees consist of elected representatives from local bodies (such as municipalities and panchayats), district officials, and other stakeholders. The primary role of DPCs is to prepare and approve the district-level development plan, which aligns with the state's overall development strategy.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise•   16.1,16.4•   16.5Suggested Reading

11.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

12.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India”
Terminal Questions

•    What do you understand by District Planning Committee and describe Role and Function of District Planning Committee ?
Chapter-17
Structure and Function of Urban Local Government in India: Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council Committee and Nagar Panchayat
Structure
Learning Objectives
Introduction
Components of ULBs
functions of the urban local government
Municipal Corporation
Municipal Council Committee
Nagar Panchayat
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
learning objective•    Structure and Function of Urban Local Government in India•  Municipal Corporation•  Municipal Council Committee•    Nagar PanchayatIntroduction
The urban local government in India refers to the system of local governance in urban areas, which includes cities, towns, and other urban settlements. The structure and functions of urban local governments vary depending on the size, population, and administrative setup of the city
or town. However, in general, the urban local government in India can be understood through the following components:
Components of ULBs

1.    **Municipal Corporation**:
Municipal Corporations are established in large cities with a substantial population. They are the highest urban local government bodies and have significant administrative and financial powers. The mayor is the head of the Municipal Corporation, and the Corporation Council (or General Body) is the legislative wing, comprising elected representatives known as corporators.

2.    **Municipal Council**:
Municipal Councils are set up in medium-sized cities and towns. The municipal council is headed by a chairman or president, and it has elected members who represent various wards within the municipality.

3.    **Nagar Panchayat**:
Nagar Panchayats are established in smaller towns and areas that are transitioning from rural to urban settlements. The head of a Nagar Panchayat is called the chairman or president, and the members represent different wards.
functions of the urban local government

1.    **Urban Planning and Development**:
Urban local governments are responsible for urban planning and development within their jurisdictions. They prepare and implement master plans, zoning regulations, and development control norms to ensure orderly growth of the city.

2.    **Public Health and Sanitation**:
The urban local government takes care of public health services, including sanitation, waste management, and the supply of clean drinking water.

3.    **Urban Infrastructure**:
It is responsible for developing and maintaining urban infrastructure such as roads, bridges, street lighting, parks, and recreational facilities.

4.    **Urban Services**:
The urban local government provides essential services such as public transportation, street maintenance, street cleaning, and fire services.

5.    **Property Tax and Revenue Collection**:
One of the major functions of urban local governments is to collect property tax, which is a significant source of revenue for them. They also collect various other fees and taxes.

6.    **Regulatory Functions**:
Urban local governments enforce building regulations, issue building permits, and undertake building inspections to ensure adherence to safety standards.

7.    **Social Welfare**:
They may implement social welfare schemes for the urban poor, women, and marginalized sections of society.

8.    **Education and Health Services**:
In some cases, urban local governments are involved in providing primary education and healthcare services within their jurisdictions.

9.    **Community Development**:
They undertake community development activities to improve the overall quality of life in urban areas.
The functions of the urban local government are guided by the 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution, which provides a constitutional status to urban local bodies and lays down their responsibilities and functions.
It's important to note that the specific structure and functions of urban local governments may vary from state to state and city to city, depending on local laws, regulations, and administrative practices. Additionally, some larger cities may have specialized bodies or agencies responsible for specific functions, such as transport corporations, development authorities, etc.
Municipal Corporation
A Municipal Corporation is a local government institution that exists in large cities and urban agglomerations in India. It is the highest form of urban local government and plays a crucial role in the governance and administration of cities with a substantial population. Municipal Corporations are established under specific state laws and have significant administrative, financial, and regulatory powers. Here are some key aspects of Municipal Corporations in India:

1.    **Structure and Composition**:
Municipal Corporations are headed by a mayor who is the ceremonial head of the city and is elected by the members of the Corporation Council (also known as the General Body). The General Body consists of elected representatives called corporators, who represent different wards or constituencies within the city. The number of wards and corporators depends on the size and population of the city.

2.    **Functions and Responsibilities**:
Municipal Corporations are responsible for providing a wide range of essential services and ensuring the overall development of the city. Some of their key functions and responsibilities include:

a.    **Urban Planning and Development**: Formulating and implementing master plans, development regulations, and zoning rules to ensure orderly growth and development of the city.

b.    **Public Health and Sanitation**: Providing public health services, including sanitation, waste management, and maintaining cleanliness in the city.

c.    **Urban Infrastructure**: Developing and maintaining urban infrastructure, including roads, bridges, street lighting, parks, and recreational facilities.

d.    **Water Supply and Sewage**: Ensuring a continuous supply of clean drinking water and proper sewage management in the city.

e.    **Public Transportation**: Providing and regulating public transportation services to facilitate easy mobility within the city.

f.    **Property Tax and Revenue Collection**: Collecting property tax and various other fees to generate revenue for the Corporation's functioning.

g.    **Regulatory Functions**: Enforcing building regulations, issuing building permits, and undertaking building inspections to ensure compliance with safety standards.

h.    **Social Welfare**: Implementing social welfare schemes for the urban poor, women, and marginalized sections of society.

i.    **Education and Health Services**: In some cases, Municipal Corporations are involved in providing primary education and healthcare services within their jurisdictions.

3.    **Financial Autonomy**:
Municipal Corporations have financial autonomy and generate revenue through various means, including property tax, user fees, fines, and grants from the state and central governments.

4.    **Elections and Term of Office**:
The corporators of the Municipal Corporation are elected through local body elections, which are held periodically. The term of office for the mayor and corporators is generally five years.
Municipal Corporations play a vital role in shaping the development and well-being of urban areas in India. They provide essential services and address the needs of the urban population, contributing to the overall growth and progress of cities and towns.
Municipal Council Committee
In the context of the urban local government in India, a "Municipal Council Committee" typically refers to various committees that are constituted within the Municipal Council to handle specific functions or tasks. These committees play an important role in the functioning and decision-making processes of the Municipal Council. The structure and composition of these committees can vary from one Municipal Council to another, but some common committees are:

1.    **Finance Committee**:
The Finance Committee is responsible for overseeing the financial matters of the Municipal Council. It examines budget proposals, financial allocations, and expenditure plans. The committee ensures proper financial management and adherence to financial rules and regulations.

2.    **Public Works Committee**:
The Public Works Committee is concerned with infrastructure and construction-related projects and activities. It reviews proposals for the development and maintenance of roads, bridges, drainage systems, and other public works.

3.    **Health Committee**:
The Health Committee focuses on public health-related matters. It oversees sanitation, waste management, public health programs, and initiatives to promote cleanliness and hygiene in the city.

4.    **Education Committee**:
The Education Committee is responsible for matters related to primary education and schools under the purview of the Municipal Council. It may review proposals for school development, educational initiatives, and related infrastructure.

5.    **Social Welfare Committee**:
The Social Welfare Committee addresses issues related to the welfare of marginalized and vulnerable sections of society. It may review and implement schemes and programs aimed at providing social support and empowerment.

6.    **Urban Planning and Development Committee**:
This committee is involved in urban planning matters. It reviews and approves development plans, building permissions, zoning regulations, and other aspects related to the city's growth and development.

7.    **Audit Committee**:
The Audit Committee ensures transparency and accountability in the financial matters of the Municipal Council. It reviews audit reports, financial statements, and compliance with audit recommendations.

8.    **Town Planning Committee**:
The Town Planning Committee is responsible for formulating town planning and land use-related policies and guidelines. It may review and recommend changes to the city's master plan and development regulations.

9.    **Legal Committee**:
The Legal Committee deals with legal matters related to the Municipal Council. It may handle legal disputes, contract reviews, and legal compliance matters.
These are just a few examples of the committees that may be formed within a Municipal Council. The specific committees and their functions can vary based on the size of the city, the needs of the urban area, and the legal provisions in the state's municipal laws. The formation of these committees is aimed at decentralizing decision-making, promoting specialized expertise, and ensuring a more efficient and focused approach to governance at the local level.
Nagar Panchayat
Nagar Panchayat is a local government institution in India that governs smaller towns and areas that are in the process of urbanization. It lies between rural areas and full-fledged urban areas, and its establishment is a step towards urban development and local governance in such areas. Nagar Panchayats are set up under specific state laws and have limited administrative and financial powers compared to Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations. Here are some key aspects of Nagar Panchayats:

1.    **Structure and Composition**:
A Nagar Panchayat is headed by a chairman or president who is elected by the members of the Panchayat. The Panchayat has elected members who represent different wards or constituencies within its jurisdiction. The number of wards and members depends on the population and size of the area.

2.    **Functions and Responsibilities**:
Nagar Panchayats are responsible for providing basic civic amenities and services to the residents of the area under their jurisdiction. Some of their key functions and responsibilities include:

a.    **Public Health and Sanitation**: Providing sanitation and waste management services to ensure cleanliness and hygiene in the area.

b.    **Urban Infrastructure**: Developing and maintaining basic urban infrastructure, including roads, drainage systems, street lighting, and public spaces.

c.    **Water Supply**: Ensuring a continuous supply of clean drinking water to the residents.

d.    **Property Tax and Revenue Collection**: Collecting property tax and various other fees to generate revenue for their functioning.

e.    **Regulatory Functions**: Enforcing building regulations and issuing building permits to ensure safety standards in construction activities.

f.    **Social Welfare**: Implementing social welfare schemes for the benefit of the local population.

3.    **Financial Autonomy**:
Nagar Panchayats have limited financial autonomy and rely on grants from the state government and other sources for their funding.

4.    **Elections and Term of Office**:
The members of the Nagar Panchayat are elected through local body elections, which are held periodically. The term of office for the chairman and members is generally five years.
Summary
In the context of the urban local government in India, a "Municipal Council Committee" typically refers to various committees that are constituted within the Municipal Council to handle specific functions or tasks. These committees play an important role in the functioning and decision-making processes of the Municipal Council. Nagar Panchayats are important institutions in the process of urban development, as they provide essential services and amenities to smaller towns and areas on their journey to becoming fully urbanized. They act as an intermediary between rural and urban governance and play a crucial role in addressing the needs of the local population in these transitional areas.
Self-Check Exercise

•  Municipal Corporation

•  Municipal Council Committee

•    Nagar Panchayat
Glossary
Municipal Corporation:
A Municipal Corporation is a local government institution that exists in large cities and urban
agglomerations in India. It is the highest form of urban local government and plays a crucial
role in the governance and administration of cities with a substantial population.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
a)17.4,17.5

b) 17.6.
Suggested Reading

13.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

14.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India” Terminal Questions

•    Examine the Role of Municipal Corporation in urban local bodies?
Chapter-18
Source of Finance at Local Bodies and State Finance Commission State Election Commission Metropolitan Planning Committee
Structure
Learning Objectives
Source of Finance at Local Bodies
State Finance Commission (SFC)
The State Election Commission (SEC)
Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC)
Summary
Self-Check Exercise
Glossary
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
Suggested Reading
Terminal Questions
Source of Finance at Local Bodies
here are many sources of finance for local bodies, but the most common ones include:

•    Property taxes: Property taxes are a type of tax that is levied on the value of real estate owned by individuals or businesses. This is the most common source of revenue for local bodies, as it provides a stable and predictable source of income.

•    Sales taxes: Sales taxes are a type of tax that is levied on the sale of goods and services. This is another common source of revenue for local bodies, as it is a fairly easy tax to collect.

•    Intergovernmental transfers: Intergovernmental transfers are payments made by the central or state government to local bodies. These transfers can be made in the form of grants, loans, or shared taxes.

•    Fees and charges: Fees and charges are payments made by individuals or businesses for the use of local government services. These fees can be for things like garbage collection, water and sewer services, or parking permits.

•    Fines and penalties: Fines and penalties are payments made by individuals or businesses for violating local ordinances. These fines can be for things like traffic violations, littering, or noise pollution.
In addition to these common sources of finance, local bodies may also generate revenue from other sources, such as:

•    Investments: Local bodies may invest their surplus funds in financial assets, such as bonds or stocks. This can provide an additional source of income for the local body.

•    Charitable donations: Local bodies may receive charitable donations from individuals or businesses. This can be a significant source of revenue for some local bodies.

•    Loans: Local bodies may borrow money from financial institutions. This can be used to finance capital projects or to cover operating expenses.
The relative importance of each source of finance varies from one local body to another. For example, property taxes may be the most important source of revenue for one local body, while sales taxes may be more important for another. The specific sources of finance that are available to a local body will also depend on the laws and regulations of the country or state in which it is located.
Local bodies, such as municipalities, city councils, and local governments, typically generate revenue from various sources to fund their operations and provide essential services to their communities. The specific sources of finance can vary depending on the country and its administrative structure, but some common sources of finance at local bodies include:

1.    Local Taxes: Local bodies often levy property taxes on residential, commercial, and industrial properties within their jurisdiction. Property taxes are a significant source of revenue and are based on the assessed value of the property.

2.    Local Fees and Charges: Local bodies may charge fees for specific services they provide, such as waste collection, building permits, business licenses, parking fees, and recreation facilities.

3.    Grants and Subsidies: Local governments receive grants and subsidies from higher levels of government (state or national) to support specific programs and initiatives. These grants can be earmarked for education, health, infrastructure development, or other local projects.

4.    Inter-Governmental Transfers: Local bodies may receive a share of revenue collected by higher levels of government, such as state or federal governments, through revenue-sharing arrangements.

5.    Local Sales Taxes: In some jurisdictions, local governments can impose additional sales taxes on goods and services sold within their boundaries.

6.    Local Business Taxes: Local businesses may be subject to specific taxes or fees based on their size, type of operation, or revenue generated.

7.    Local Fines and Penalties: Fines and penalties imposed on violations of local laws and regulations can contribute to local revenue.

8.    Local Borrowing: Local bodies may borrow funds through issuing municipal bonds or other debt instruments to finance infrastructure projects and other capital expenditures.

9.    Revenue from Public Enterprises: Some local bodies may own and operate public enterprises, such as utilities (water, electricity) or public transportation systems, generating revenue that can be used for local funding.

10.    Donations and Contributions: Local bodies may receive donations or contributions from individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to support specific projects or community initiatives.
It's important to note that the availability and distribution of these revenue sources can vary significantly based on the legal and administrative framework of each country and its local government system. Additionally, the financial capacity of local bodies can differ widely depending on the economic activity and wealth of the area they govern.
State Finance Commission (SFC)
A State Finance Commission (SFC) is a body constituted by the state government to review the financial position of local bodies (panchayats and municipalities) and make recommendations to the government on matters relating to the distribution of taxes, duties, tolls, and fees between the state and the local bodies, and the grants-in-aid to be given to the local bodies.
The State Finance Commission (SFC) is a constitutional body established in many countries to recommend the distribution of financial resources between the state (provincial) government and the local government bodies within the state. The main purpose of the State Finance Commission is to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of funds and resources to strengthen local governance and promote decentralized planning.
Here's an overview of the State Finance Commission and its role:

1.    Constitutional Basis: The establishment and functions of the State Finance Commission are usually enshrined in the constitution or relevant legislation of a country. The details may vary from one country to another, depending on their federal or unitary structure.

2.    Composition: The State Finance Commission is typically an independent and autonomous body. Its members may include experts in finance, economics, public administration, and other related fields. They are appointed by the state government or a higher authority.

3.    Functions and Responsibilities:

•    Distribution of Funds: The primary function of the State Finance Commission is to recommend the principles for sharing financial resources between the state government and local government bodies (such as municipalities, city councils, and village councils).

•    Grants and Allocations: It assesses the revenue-generating capacity and financial needs of local bodies and recommends grants and allocations from the state government to these local bodies.

•    Resource Mobilization: The commission may also suggest measures to enhance the
revenue generation of local government bodies and improve their financial management practices.

•    Fiscal Discipline: The State Finance Commission may advise local bodies on maintaining fiscal discipline and efficient use of financial resources.

•    Review and Monitoring: The commission may periodically review the financial performance of local bodies and provide guidance on improving their financial health.

4.    Periodicity: The State Finance Commission typically functions for a fixed term, and its recommendations are presented at regular intervals, such as every five years or as specified by the constitution or relevant laws.

5.    Independence: To ensure objectivity and impartiality, the State Finance Commission operates independently from the state government and local bodies. This autonomy allows it to make recommendations based on financial realities and the needs of local governance.

6.    Legal Status of Recommendations: In most cases, the state government is expected to consider the recommendations made by the State Finance Commission, but the implementation of these recommendations may depend on the political will and administrative capacity of the state government.
By establishing State Finance Commissions, countries aim to promote fiscal federalism and strengthen local governance, ensuring that local bodies receive adequate financial resources to fulfill their responsibilities and meet the needs of their communities effectively.
The SFC is also responsible for making recommendations on the following matters:

•    The determination of taxes, duties, tolls, and fees which may be assigned as, or appropriated by, the local bodies.

•    The raising of loans by the local bodies.

•    The constitution of funds for the development of local bodies.

•    The measures needed to improve the financial administration of local bodies.
The SFC is constituted by the governor of the state and consists of a chairman and two or more members, who are appointed by the governor. The chairman of the SFC is usually a retired judge of the high court. The members of the SFC are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including finance, law, and administration.
The SFC is required to submit its report to the governor within a period of one year from the date of its constitution. The report of the SFC is considered by the state government and the recommendations of the SFC are usually accepted by the government.
The SFC plays an important role in ensuring that local bodies have the financial resources they need to provide essential services to the people. The recommendations of the SFC help to improve the financial management of local bodies and to ensure that they are able to deliver services efficiently and effectively.
Here are some of the benefits of having a State Finance Commission:

•    It helps to ensure that local bodies have the financial resources they need to provide essential services to the people.

•    It helps to improve the financial management of local bodies.

•    It helps to ensure that local bodies are able to deliver services efficiently and effectively.

•    It helps to promote accountability and transparency in the financial affairs of local bodies.
The State Finance Commission is an important institution in the Indian federal system. It plays a vital role in ensuring that local bodies have the financial resources they need to deliver essential services to the people.
The State Election Commission (SEC)
The State Election Commission (SEC) is an autonomous constitutional body or statutory authority established within a country's state (provincial) government to conduct and oversee various elections at the state and local levels. The main purpose of the State Election Commission is to ensure free, fair, and impartial elections and to uphold the democratic principles of representation and governance.
Here's an overview of the State Election Commission and its role:

1.    Constitutional Basis: The establishment and functions of the State Election Commission are typically enshrined in the state's constitution or relevant legislation. The specific provisions may vary depending on the country's legal and political structure.

2.    Composition: The State Election Commission is headed by a Chief Election Commissioner who is appointed by the state government or a higher authority. It may also consist of other Election Commissioners and supporting staff members.

3.    Functions and Responsibilities:
Conducting Elections: The primary function of the State Election Commission is to conduct elections for various bodies at the state and local levels. This includes elections for state legislative assemblies, local municipalities, city councils, panchayats (village councils), and other elected bodies within the state's jurisdiction.

•    Electoral Rolls: The commission oversees the preparation and maintenance of electoral rolls, ensuring that they are up-to-date and accurate.

•    Voter Education: The State Election Commission may conduct voter education programs to inform citizens about the electoral process, voter registration, and voting procedures.

•    Candidate Nominations: It handles the acceptance of nominations from candidates and scrutinizes the nomination papers to ensure compliance with electoral rules.

•    Polling Process: The commission organizes the polling process, including the setup of polling stations, appointment of polling officers, and the management of the voting process on the election day.

•    Election Code of Conduct: The State Election Commission enforces the election code of conduct, which provides guidelines to political parties and candidates on ethical campaigning practices.

•    Election Monitoring: It monitors the election process to detect and prevent electoral malpractices and ensures that elections are conducted fairly.

•    Result Declaration: The commission is responsible for counting the votes and declaring the election results.

4.    Independence: To ensure impartiality and fairness, the State Election Commission operates independently from the state government and political parties. It is vested with certain powers to enforce electoral laws and conduct elections without interference.

5.    Legal Status of Decisions: The decisions and actions of the State Election Commission are legally binding, and its directives must be followed by all concerned parties, including political parties, candidates, and government authorities.

6.    Transparency: The State Election Commission aims to maintain transparency throughout the electoral process, allowing public scrutiny of its actions and decisions.
By establishing State Election Commissions, countries seek to uphold democratic principles and ensure that the electoral process remains credible, transparent, and reflective of the will of the people.
Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC)
The Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) is a statutory body established to promote integrated and coordinated planning for a metropolitan area. It plays a crucial role in urban governance and development by providing a platform for collaboration among various stakeholders, including local governments, urban development authorities, and other concerned agencies. The main objective of the Metropolitan Planning Committee is to formulate and implement comprehensive plans for the sustainable development of the metropolitan region.
The Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) is a statutory body constituted by the state government in each metropolitan area in India. The MPC is responsible for preparing a draft
development plan for the metropolitan area as a whole. The MPC is also responsible for coordinating the planning activities of the different local bodies within the metropolitan area.
The MPC is constituted by a chairperson, who is appointed by the state government, and a number of members, who are elected from the different local bodies within the metropolitan area. The chairperson of the MPC is usually a retired civil servant or a technocrat. The members of the MPC are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including elected representatives, bureaucrats, and experts in urban planning.
The MPC has the following powers and functions:

•  To prepare a draft development plan for the metropolitan area as a whole.

•  To coordinate the planning activities of the different local bodies within the
metropolitan area.

•    To recommend measures for the development of the metropolitan area.

•    To advise the state government on matters relating to the development of the metropolitan area.
The MPC is an important institution in the Indian urban planning system. It plays a vital role in ensuring that the development of metropolitan areas is planned and coordinated in a holistic manner.
Here are some of the benefits of having a Metropolitan Planning Committee:

•    It helps to ensure that the development of metropolitan areas is planned and coordinated in a holistic manner.

•    It helps to promote integrated development of metropolitan areas.

•    It helps to ensure that the different local bodies within a metropolitan area work together towards common goals.

•    It helps to ensure that the needs of the people living in metropolitan areas are taken into account in the planning process.
Here's an overview of the Metropolitan Planning Committee and its role:

1.    Establishment: The creation and functions of the Metropolitan Planning Committee are usually mandated by law, such as through state legislation or metropolitan development acts.

2.    Composition: The MPC typically consists of representatives from different levels of government, including elected representatives from the metropolitan area's local bodies (such as municipalities and city councils), state government officials, and experts in urban planning and development.

3.    Functions and Responsibilities:

•    Metropolitan Development Plan: The primary function of the Metropolitan Planning Committee is to prepare a Metropolitan Development Plan (MDP). The MDP outlines the future growth, development, and infrastructure requirements of the metropolitan region over a specified time frame.

•    Coordination of Plans: The MPC ensures the coordination and integration of various development plans and projects proposed by different local bodies and agencies within the metropolitan area. This helps to avoid conflicting or overlapping plans and ensures a holistic approach to urban development.

•    Infrastructure Development: The committee identifies key infrastructure projects and investment priorities for the metropolitan area to support its growth and development needs.

•    Environment and Sustainability:  The MPC may incorporate provisions  for
environmental conservation and sustainable  development practices into the
Metropolitan Development Plan.

•    Transportation and Mobility: It addresses transportation and mobility challenges, including the development of public transportation systems, traffic management, and connectivity within the metropolitan region.

•    Housing and Urban Services: The committee may focus on affordable housing projects and the provision of essential urban services such as water supply, sanitation, and waste management.

•    Economic Development: The MPC may also consider strategies for promoting economic development, attracting investments, and fostering job opportunities in the metropolitan area.

4.    Independence and Autonomy: The Metropolitan Planning Committee operates independently and autonomously to ensure unbiased decision-making and avoid undue political interference.

5.    Public Participation: Public participation and consultation are essential components of the metropolitan planning process. The MPC seeks inputs from residents, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to make the planning process more inclusive and responsive to community needs.

6.    Legal Status of Plans: The Metropolitan Development Plan prepared by the MPC serves as a legal reference for guiding development activities within the metropolitan area. Local bodies and agencies are expected to align their projects and initiatives with the plan's provisions.
Summary
By establishing the Metropolitan Planning Committee, governments aim to address the challenges of urbanization, manage urban growth more efficiently, and ensure the sustainable development of metropolitan regions to improve the quality of life for residents.
Self-Check Exercise

•    State Finance Commission (SFC)

•    The State Election Commission (SEC)

•    Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC)
Glossary
The Metropolitan Planning Committee is an important institution in the Indian urban planning system. It plays a vital role in ensuring that the development of metropolitan areas is planned and coordinated in a holistic manner.
Answer to Self-Check Exercise
a)18.2,18.3
b)18.4
Suggested Reading

15.    Maheshwari, S.R., “Local Government in India”

16.    Sahib Singh and Surinder Singh, “Local Government in India”
Terminal Questions

•  Assess the role of the finance commission in maintaining fiscal federalism in India.?

•    What is the role of state election commission?
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